


Purple Tint

by nomjoon



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Blue Has An Inferiority Complex, Blue can't keep his mouth shut, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mute Red, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rated T for swearing, Red has some problems of his own, Red's Pikachu is an asshole, Sharing a Room, alternatively titled: how many names can mount silver get, but so is Blue so they're even
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-19 07:59:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 96,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9428666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomjoon/pseuds/nomjoon
Summary: Blue never really expected to end up in Alola with his long lost rival for a full month. He also didn't expect to basically being forced to adopt a new and creepy little pokemon, which appeared to have taken a like to him. And most importantly, he was not expecting to fall back into a spiral of feelings that should have been buried a long, long time ago.-Or, the one where Red and Blue deal with the unspoken thoughts that plagued their minds ever since the beginning of their journey. And if romantic feelings bloom while they're at it... Well, it's just one more problem for Blue to deal with.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just want you guys to know that only first and the last chapter will be written in Red’s POV. I’m better at writing in Blue’s , and I believe that this story will have much more impact if I do it like this. And why not to just write as Blue from the beginning to the end, you ask? Well… Red is a nice character to introduce this story with, since if it started with Blue it would have a completely different composition and dynamic which I didn't like. Besides, I don't believe anyone would be against this so yeah.
> 
> Also, there are some things Red remembers on this chapter that will be explained later on the story. They have nothing to do with what the game shows us, they're just themes that will be addressed later.
> 
> But anyway! I hope you enjoy this chapter and feel motivated to read the rest! And if you have the time, please leave a comment/kudo! Good reading!

Red felt uncomfortable. He did not like the way people were looking at him. He did not like the whispering gossipers switching ideas as he walked past them. He hated being the centre of attention. His whole being  _despised_ feeling helpless as he made his way through the narrow, unorganized, crowded streets of his hometown.

However, a kind request was a kind request. And Red, although annoyed, was mesmerized to find Professor Oak had gone through the job of finding his exact location to send a single letter requesting his presence. So there he was, hurrying to the lab as the villagers either whispered to each other, or obnoxiously called him out while snapping a picture.

It felt weird to be back. Red just hoped he would not run into his mom or, worse of all,  _Blue_. Blue brought back the memories of a huge pang of sadness on one of the happiest moments of his life. They had not spoken for over six years, save from the one time Blue had appeared on Mount Silver with a pissed off expression and a demand to know what the heck Red was doing up there. Until that day, Red still didn’t know what had possessed the boy to do so. They had argued after the championship, and from then on their relationship was strained. So you could imagine Red’s confusion once the boy appeared there, all hisses and stomps.

Red sighed, almost sprinting to the lab as it came into view. He decided to forget that memory for the moment and almost punched the lab’s door open, running inside and shutting it behind him with excessive force. The sound echoed through the lab, accompanied by a few seconds of silence where Red tried to catch his breath.

"Red? Red! It's you! My son, it's been a while, eh?" Professor Oak exclaimed, coming towards him, arms raised for a hug. Red gulped and shrank against the wall, holding in his breath.

The hug was quick, Oak probably feeling how stiff his body was. After the greeting was done, Oak gave him a small smile, his eyes gleaming.  _Arceus_ , the man was old. It had been so long since he last saw him. A small stab of joy filled his heart, his cheeks warming in embarrassment. Great. What a time to feel nostalgic.

"Still not very talkative, I see. Caught any new pokemon?" Red nodded. Both of them started to walk inside the lab, the Professor moving his hands wildly as he talked "Amazing! Ah, son, come in! The lab's a little untidy, but I'm sure you won’t mind. I have great news for you!"

Oak stopped, turning around with a grin and taking a paper out of his pocked. Red grabbed it, scanning over the letters with mild interest. He frowned as the words sunk in, looking up with loss in his eyes.

"I know right? Alola, having a League? It's such an innovation!"  _No_ , that was  _not_ Red's question  _at all_! "And all the champions get a free ticked for the inauguration! Isn't it marvellous?"

Oak twirled on his feet, grabbing a book from his messy table.

“Ah, I still remember when I was a little kid. I used to go there on vacation. I have a cousin about my age there too- But that’s out of the point. The thing is-“ the Professor opened the book, scanning through the pages “-you’re a champion. You too received a ticket, and your mother ran here as soon as she read it. I’m sure you understand the situation, after all-“

Red stopped hearing afterwards. He was glued to his sit, mind running miles per hour, one hand gripping at Pikachu’s pokeball. Like, going to Alola? A place packed with people, especially  _young children_ , dying to battle him? Just that alone was enough to make him forget all about the cool pokemon. And oh boy did he know there were cool pokemon on the islands: he may have spent six years on top of a mountain, but certain news managed to make their way up there too. And damn it all if Red didn’t want to see the Alolan form of Marowak.

However, it had been too long since he last walked through crowded places with ease. Before he became champion, people just sort of ignored him, you know? Sure, he got into battles once in a while and was stopped by a grunt every two weeks, but actually getting attention? No. Red never got it. He was just another trainer on the run for a title.

And then he won it. The world turned harsher. He barely had time for himself between journalists and crazy photographers who couldn’t grasp the idea that a kid wanted space, not a camera glued to their face. He hated the attention. He just wanted to prove Kanto that his pokemon training skills were great! Celebrity life was not made for him! Going to Alola would just overwhelm him-

"Uh, something's wrong, Red?"

Red snapped out of his thoughts, the Professor's worried expression materializing in front of him. The old man was frowning, looking at him like a dejected Growlithe. Red almost felt bad, until he realized Oak was expecting a reply. Then his brain could only see one word:

Crap.

Red had no idea how to tell Professor Oak his problem. The man didn't know sign language, and even if he did, Red himself didn’t know how to put it in in a way that would not break the man's heart.

That is, until a door opened and a deeper, yet recognizable voice came out of nowhere like in some cliché movie. All coherent thoughts left Red's head, leaving him frozen on the spot.

"Yo, gramps, did you-" His footsteps stopped abruptly "... call?"

 

Silence reigned in the lab for a few moments. Red felt awkward as hell, but tried to keep his cool and leaned back against the wall, staring at a rather peculiar dirty spot on the wall instead of facing towards Blue's general direction. Blue was apparently speechless, stuck on the spot he spotted Red and probably looking at him as if he were a ghost or something. Even Professor Oak was silent, although something on his face told Red he had planned the whole thing.

Eventually, Blue broke the silence. It was always Blue who spat shit out of his mouth before thinking twice after all, and, apparently, that fact wasn’t planning on going away any time soon.

"What in the actual fuck are you doing here?"

It felt like a stab.

"Blue! Watch your tongue!" Oak shrieked, turning on his heels and staring at Blue with fire in his eyes.

"Watch my tongue? _Watch my tongue_?! You know very well how I feel about- wait, even better! How did you even find him?! The guy's been living under a cold, icy rock for the past six years, and you suddenly bring him back?!"

"Don’t talk about him as if he's not in the room." Oak said sternly.

"Oh-how-!  _Ugh_!"

Blue threw his hands up in frustration, stomping all the way inside the lab and throwing his body on a chair. He crossed his arms and pouted like a petulant child, keeping his eyes glued on the ground. Red did the same, his fingers messing with the insides of his shirt.

Professor Oak sighed, pacing around the lab.

"You two should have solved this… conflict of yours a long while ago, don’t you think?”

“We did. He became champion.”

“It apparently didn’t solve anything, did it, Blue?”

Blue didn’t answer. Oak sighed again.

"Look, the reason both of you are here is the same. Red, what I was telling you right now is what Blue has known for over a week. And if both of you have at least one inch of brain, you'll understand how necessary your presence is in Alola."

"  _His_ presence." Blue muttered.

 

" _Both_ of you," Oak emphasized, shooting a glare at Blue "-will go. It's not just about helping Alola. It's about not breaking the hearts of young trainers who want to battle you. It's about not making Kanto trainers look irresponsible. So you two are going, without questions!"

Red's head snapped up to meet Oak's determined eyes. His heart was thrumming in his ears, his blood cold and palms sweaty. He had the courage to look at Blue, who was equally agape.

"Grandpa-"

"Your plane leaves in six hours, you can catch it in Viridian. It's a public one, and as you can guess, the League doesn't have money to send each of you in separate vehicles. They were, however, kind enough to let you go on Class A." Oak said, beginning to shuffle the books scattered across his table as a way to not face the situation. Red felt like punching something.

"Grandfather! You can’t be serious! Viridian is an hour from here! And what about the bags?! I don’t have one ready, he probably left all his stuff inside his cabin in the frozen woods, and on top of it all! I can’t leave my sister alone.  _Because I care about my family_."

Red's blood went from cold to boiling. He glared at Blue with venom, boring holes in the man’s skull. Blue glared back, as if not giving less of a crap about how insensible he had been. Red felt his eyes starting to burn in anger.

"Your sister knows. I warned her two days ago. Why do you think she bought all those potions and Ultra Balls?" Oak said, as if not realizing the meaning behind Blue's words.

Blue shouted something back, to which Oak only rolled his eyes and started to grunt, as if trying to force the positivity of the situation down Blue's throat. Blue only kept on biting back, moving his hands wildly as he talked. Some things never changed, did they?

Red leaned back against the chair, staring at both of them with a certain fidgety on his soul. He felt like a mere spectator to the argument, although the whole thing was technically about him and demanded his insight. He couldn't talk, he did not have the will to find out if Blue still knew sign language, and even if he did, Red would rather dig a hole and hide than talking to him. He felt like utter crap. He wanted his pokemon. He wanted to go back to his frosty, welcoming mountain.

"Blue Oak, you're grabbing your stuff, helping Red grab his, and _you're going_." Professor Oak finally snapped, his voice rough and final.

Blue groaned, hiding his face in his hands. Red gulped.

"And you," Oak said, still stern "You'll accept his help, get on top of Pidgeot, grab your stuff and go. Okay, son?"

Red lowered his gaze, pushing his cap a little lower on his face. Professor Oak seemed content enough, and with one last glance, he wished them farewell.

"Go on. It'll be just a month, okay?"

"Whatever!"' Blue shout, stepping out of the lab.

Red was about to follow, but Oak placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look. Red nodded, half understanding the meaning behind it.

"Their orders. You understand, right?"

Red really didn’t care, but nodded nonetheless. Oak smiled and fiddled around with his pocket.

"Here, give this to Blue once you're on the plane. He always loved these...”

Red grabbed the small green sack and hid it on his bag. Oak patted his shoulder and wished him good luck, his sorry expression doing nothing but adding guilt to the long list of negative feeling Red was having right now.

The next hours came in a blur. Blue scoffed and landed him his Pidgeot, whispering something on the pokemon's ear. Pidgeot clucked and turned to him, offering its head for Red to pat. Afterwards, Red was on top of it, crossing the skies towards Mount Silver.

Red remembered a certain pang of sadness once he started packing, but he wasn't completely sure. In a blink, the few pairs of shirts he had were crumpled inside his bag, along with a spare pair of trousers and a few potions.

Between flying back to Pallet and sprinting in awkward silence along with Blue towards Viridian (Pidgeot apparently got too tired to carry the two of them to the city), Pikachu had ended up outside its pokeball and perched on Red's shoulders, glaring daggers at Blue. Blue ignored both it and Red all the way towards the airport, only sparing them a timid glance once a few photographers and pokemon fanatics appeared in view.

Eventually, they arrived to Viridian and got inside the plane with a few other trainers. Red was still recovering from all this overwhelming information when Blue spoke for the first time, just after Red fitted himself on his sit and placed Pikachu back inside the pokeball.

"So...."

Red looked at him, as if finally coming to the conclusion that yes, this was happening, he was here with Blue, about to go to Alola.

"How did he find you?"

Red shrugged, not sure where this was leading.

"Not a single idea?"

Red turned his body towards Blue. The other boy - or rather, man,  _damn it had been so long_ \- was avoiding eye contact, although his body was sprawled on the chair and showing no traces of irritation or whatsoever.

Red raised his hands, biting his lip as he prayed Blue still remembered at least some signs.

_[How did_ _you_ _find me?]_

Blue raised a brow, staring at the window behind Red. Wrong question, apparently, but damn it all if Red wasn’t curious about how the man had managed to trace his location all those years ago.

"I had my ways. My grandfather doesn’t have my stealthy skills though."

Red chuckled, crossing his arms.

_[He offered Gold a Dratini. Gold told him, then.]_

Blue gasped, leaning forward on his seat. His face was like an open book, a faint reminder of the younger Blue with a superiority complex and an emotional, dramatic attitude. However, his deeper voice and stronger features were enough to not fool Red's mind for too long, and the fact that now Red himself was taller than Blue was still making him feel kind of smug.

"That bastard! He told me nothing, even after I  _oh so kindly_ let him beat my gym, and then goes around loosening the tongue for a pokemon?!"

Red raised a brow, slightly amused.

"Don’t look at me like that!” Blue shrieked "I feel cheated on!"

Red shook his head, straightening on his seat and pulling his cap down to cover his face. He then leaned back, crossing his arms and missing Pikachu's weight on his lap.

Blue, obviously, wasn’t happy about the sudden posture change.

"Hey! Don't ignore me! I'm-"

He was abruptly cut off by the captain's voice announcing the flight was about to take off.

Red sighed.

This would be a long month.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this chapter ready since like, wednesday, but I kept editing it and stuff so it took me a while to publish. It was actually meant to be longer, but I cropped some things out and chose to save them for next chapter. Talking about next chapter, oooooh boy am I so pumped to finish it. On this one they're trying to get the hang of Alola, you know? Next one they actually start to explore and have more... dialogues, if you may.
> 
> Anyway, thank you all for the comments and kudos! I haven't written (or read) pokemon fics ever since I was in like... seventh or sixth grade, so it was a pleasing surprise to know this fandom is still so active when it comes to the older games and pairings! Nice reading!

Blue felt miserable.

Actually, scratch that. Blue felt itchy, exhausted, and absolutely nauseous.

He wasn't made for planes, you know? All his life, the only connection he had with the skies was through Pidgeot. The wind blowing on his face, the soft feathery texture under his fingers... All of that was far more desirable than tight seats and an inability to do anything else besides waiting for the flight to arrive its destination. It also happened that Pidgeot was made for one single traveller, and although silent, Red's presence still put Blue on the edge of his sit.

Blue groaned in relief as he finally stepped out of the plane, stretching and taking in the far warmer temperatures of the Ula’Ula Island. He glanced back at Red, who was keeping his eyes on the ground and messing around with one particular pokeball. Blue sighed and started walking, telling the man to do the same. Red never really liked the crowds, after all.

Ah yes, Red. With him. In Alola.  _For a full month._

You see, Blue was fairly into the newest gossip topic of pink magazines: the Alolan League and the Sun and Moon siblings. Especially that Moon kid, who apparently was the first champion the islands ever had. Blue had read all about it, and learning that Alola had its own variant of pokemon made the whole thing even more attractive and exciting. He even asked his grandfather, the great old Professor Oak, for a chance to go there and catch a few monsters.

Little did he know, right?

They picked their bags up in silence, avoiding the curious glances of the most knowledgeable people in the airport who seemed to recognize them (the  _them_ being  _Red_ , Blue's mind supplied), and walked straight into the first Pokemon Center they saw.

Blue watched with disdain as Pikachu was let out of the ball, the mouse looking around in confusion before whining at Red for an explanation. Then it looked at Blue, its eyes widening a little before it climbed up on Red's shoulders and began to full on glare at him. Red seemed not to care, walking to a neatly placed coffee shop on the corner of the center and pointing out something on the menu. Blue sighed, dropping his body on one chair and letting Eevee out. Eevee barked happily, sitting on Blue's lap and beginning to paw at his trousers.

It wasn’t like Blue despised the idea of being here with Red. He didn’t even dislike it that much to begin with. He was just mad at the whole situation, and got even angrier when he looked at the bigger picture. Three years after becoming champion, Red disappeared and gradually stopped having any sort of contact with the world. He  _evaporated_. Blue had to discretely ask around Johto and send his pokemon out for weeks until he found where exactly the boy was staying. And for what? Red didn’t even care. He didn’t even notice how lucky he was to have people who admired him all over the globe.

And the worst was: Blue had crawled up Mount Silver not only to ask why the hell Red was acting like an edgy, grumpy child, but also to redeem himself. Looking back, he knew he had been an asshole who was far too focused on glory to realize how stupid he was being. It wasn’t Red’s fault Blue didn’t know how to treat his pokemon right. It wasn’t Red’s fault Blue had been a horrible trainer until he became a Gym Leader. It wasn’t Red’s fault Blue had decided to become champion just because he wanted his grandfather to approve of his decision as much as he had done when Red, months prior, had decided to do the same. And most important of all: it wasn’t Red’s fault Blue had behaved like a spoiled child for no reason other than jealousy.

But of course that when the time came, the words didn’t leave his mouth. He was too prideful for that. He couldn’t admit he had been wrong. So he yelled, throwing the whole point of his plan out the window. Or, down the mountain, he supposed. It also happened that Red was absolutely infuriating when he gave you that blank stare, which could mean a variety of things ranging from “whatever” to “get out of here or prepare to suffer a slow, painful death”. The point was: afterwards, Blue gave up on Red. He went to Kalos to study, he came back, he started to live in Viridian, and life was calm and perfect.

That is, until his grandfather pulled a scheme out of his ass without previous warning and shoved him in a plane with Red. Thank you, Professor Oak, you truly are a kind human being.

Blue had been mad, still was. Who was Red to come back just because Blue’s grandfather asked him to? Who was he to return after six years without a single word to anyone, not even his mother? Who was he to suddenly accept going to Alola, after paying no mind when everyone around him shout at his thick skull to come back from the icy mountains?

But as time passed, Blue realized he wasn’t exactly as angry as he thought. Actually, anger wasn’t the word he was looking for. But so wasn’t anxious or sad. He was… He felt…

Ah.

He was bad with words, okay?

He looked at Red again, wondering how the next month would be. The man was visibly older, with broad shoulders and a body far more fit than Blue remembered him to have. His hair was kept the same style, but seemed to be shorter. He also didn’t look like a baby anymore, his jawline more defined and with the beginnings of a stubble growing there. His eyes still had the same reddish brown tint too, a peculiar detail Blue used to love.

Blue looked down at Eevee, patting its head.

"Hey girl, we have a lot in our hands to prove this vacation, 'kay? Remember not to act too excited, they may see us as little children. We gotta prove the world our small minutes of championship were worth it, hm? Ah, I raised you, of course you're smart enough to understand, aren’t ya?" He sing-sang, making Eevee paw at his chest "Also, Pikachu is here."

Right after he said it, Eevee turned around as quick as a Rapidash, and spotted Red with psychic type accuracy. Before Blue could even call it out, it was jumping out of his lap and running towards Pikachu like a giddy child.

"Traitor!"

Red turned around just in time to see Pikachu jumping out of his shoulder and making its way towards Eevee. The two pokemon collided with each other, blabbering and running around one another as if an eternity had passed ever since they last met.

Which, Blue kind of assumed was the case.

Shaking his head, he got up and walked towards them. Red grabbed his cup from the coffee shop and did the same, smiling.

"Ah, c'mon Eevee! Don't play with the enemy!" Blue joked. Eevee paid him no mind, pawning at Pikachu's head as the mouse wiggled its ears excitedly. Red took a sip of his drink, shrugging.

Pikachu eventually got tired, crawling back to Red's shoulders as Eevee came to sit by Blue. Blue felt a little lighter in spirit, deciding to put his feelings aside a little to try and talk to Red about where they would be staying. Blue's soul screamed at him to suggest taking that luxurious, overpriced hotel he saw in the magazines; but his wallet shout back that no, they wouldn’t do that.  _Rough times_ , he concluded.

"Got any idea where we'll crash in?"

Red glanced down at him, shaking his head. Damn, ever since when was Red taller than him?

"Maybe one of those rented little houses? I heard-“

Something flashed in Red's eyes and he placed his cup on the counter, quickly grabbing his bag and fiddling with it. Blue was about to ask him what he was doing when a green bag was shoved on his face.

" _Dude_ ," Blue groaned, grabbing the bag rather harshly and peeking inside. His eyes widened "No way..."

Inside was something Blue hadn't seen in ages: his old pokemon card collection. He collected those before he received his first pokemon, and never really laid eyes on them after he left home. Looking back at the dusty pictures and rough edges of the cards made him feel slightly happier and comforted, as childish and uncool that sounded.

"Damn, haven’t seen those in ages- oh! Look at Cubone! It was my first card! Ah, I always won you at card battles, remember?"

He picked two cards out of the sack, wondering where his grandfather had found them. Pichu and a shiny Umbreon stared back at him, the latter one strapped together with tape after Daisy accidentally ruined it while trying to pry it out of Blue's hands. He smiled, showing them off to Red before putting them back.

"I don’t know where he found them, but at least I'll have something to entertain myself with besides battling, yeah?"

Red only nodded, adjusting his cap for the fifth time that day. Blue wondered if Red had gotten that nervous tick at some point between taking down the mafia and abandoning the civilization to live under the snow ghosts’ noses.

"Anyway, we need to get going. I don't wanna camp with your smelly electric beast just ‘cause we didn't manage to rent a place."

Pikachu hissed at him, as if understanding his words. Red calmed it down with a wave of his hand.

They grabbed their bags and turned to leave, Blue's stomach ache returning at the realization he would have to walk below that burning sun again. He noticed for the first time Red only brought his old backpack and a sports bag, as if not possessing that much to bring. Blue, on the other hand, brought one large luggage bag and a grey backpack, which had been given to him by Daisy on his sixteenth birthday. The backpack had more pokemon related objects (and food) than anything, though.

They were just leaving when the doors of the center opened, a black man suspiciously looked like Professor Oak stepping inside. Both Blue and Red stopped death on their tracks as the man fixated his eyes on them, a grin taking over his face.

"It's you!" He said, walking towards them with his arms raised " _Alola!_  How're you doing? Blue, my young boy! I met you when you were just this size! Do you remember me?"

Blue really didn't, but he was so shocked by this man's sudden appearance that he stumbled over his own words instead of actually saying "no".

"Ah, I was expecting it. You were too young after all," he laughed "And you must be Red! I heard only great things of you. Samuel told me you really love pokemon. Tell me, have you heard of Alola’s regional variants? Ah, of course you did. Amazing little things they are. I can show ‘em to both of you later." He smiled, placing one hand on his hip "I'm Professor Samson Oak, but no need for formalities."

Blue's eyes widened, flashes of his grandfather's album and words passing through his mind.

"Uncle?!" He gasped. Red had the same reaction, looking between them in something akin to disbelief.

"Why now, who else would I be?" Samson joked, shaking his head.

"I don’t know, gramps didn’t say you were coming." Blue answered.

"Typical," Samson said rather bitterly "Always forgetting stuff everywhere, always forgetting to give important details... But that's who that old man is, right?" He shook his head, smiling "Anyway, I was told the League was supposed to welcome all trainers, but was having problems with it. They should fix this issue up during the course of the week, but until then I'm afraid you two don’t have much of a place to stay, right?"

They both nodded.

"We were just talking about that, actually. Do ya have any idea where we could stay?" Blue asked, letting go of his luggage to pick Eevee up. The pokemon had been pawning at his leg the whole time, and it was really starting to bother him.

"Of course I do," Samson said with a grin "You're staying with me!"

.

Okay, yes, Blue had been surprised with the offer. But could he really say no to his uncle? Besides, he just got a free place to stay in, and damned be Arceus if he didn't enjoy the attention Samson was giving him. Although he had the slight suspicion that Samson was only paying that much attention to him because Red was as quiet as a rock. The man was his grandfather’s cousin, after all.

The house itself was modest. It fit with the rest of the town, and although not richly adorned, it didn't exactly look empty. Upon entering it, Samson told them to place their bags wherever as he stepped inside to unlock his lab.

Oh, yeah, the man had a lab under his house. It was an absolutely normal thing here in Alola, apparently. Doing experiments and testing risky new technologies just under your roof. Completely safe.

"It's all set up! Now, don't be shy. Bathroom is the second door on the left, the bedrooms are afterwards," he said, pointing towards the corridor.

"This is a nice house you have here, uncle Samson." Blue found himself saying, trying to be at least a little polite to this family member he just met. Samson chuckled.

"No need for that, son. But I must agree - it  _is_ a nice, cosy house. Perhaps because I don't spend much time in it," he said, before crossing his arms "Speaking of my home, please make yourselves comfortable! You'll take the guest room, yes? It has two beds, so I'm sure you don't mind sharing a division?”

Both Blue and Red switched nervous glances. Blue didn't need mind reading skills to know he and Red were thinking the same thing. However, he also knew Samson was already being kind enough to come to them and give them a roof. The famous and super intelligent Samuel Oak wouldn't be as generous to his distant nephew and some random stranger if they appeared in Kanto, and to be quite honest neither would Blue, so they had to take what they could.

Even if it meant having to sleep in the same room, between the same walls, after years apart.

"Sure thing, why would we mind?" Blue said, placing Eevee on the ground. The pokemon whined, clearly displeased at having to actually do something other than watching the world around it on the safety of Blue's arms.

Red did nothing, Pikachu looking between him and Samson in confusion. Blue briefly wondered what the little pest was so intrigued with. Samson smiled at them before turning to grab his keys, giving a spare one to Blue and then excusing himself to go to his lab.

Blue and Red grabbed their stuff and sighed, moving towards the so called guest room to deposit their things. Blue was the first to enter the room, looking around with mild interest. It was a relatively small division. It had a window on the wall opposed to the door, with two neatly made beds on each side of it. On his right, a small desk with an old TV was pressed against the wall, while on the left he could see a dusty wardrobe. There were no nightstands, a tall lamp standing between the two beds instead.

Blue dropped his bags on one of the beds, Eevee jumping on the mattress and making a nest by the pillow. Red placed his things on the other bed, sitting down and taking off his cap. He ruffled his own hair before putting it back on, a fatigued expression on his face.

"You okay bro? Is the sun getting to you?" Blue asked, opening up his luggage and beginning to sort through his clothing. Damn, he really needed to buy new pants. He would bake if he continued wearing dark trousers and jeans. Perhaps he could try shorts? Or ripped pants? Those seemed to be fashionable now, at least.

He grabbed the sack with his cards and set it aside, ready to mess with all of them as soon as night fell. Perhaps Red was still up for a challenge? He picked up his bag and opened it, taking both his sunglasses and wallet off it and placing the first item on his head and the latter one in his front pocket. Somewhere between adjusting his glasses so they didn't fall down his forehead and fixing the collar of his shirt, Pikachu had jumped on his bed and was now sniffing his clothes and dirtying everything with rat hair.  _And_  crumpling his shirts with its paws.

"Hey, electra-ball! There're no goodies in there for you!" He said, picking Pikachu up and dropping it on the ground. Pikachu's cheeks lightened up with static as it glared up at him, Red shaking his head and picking it up before it destroyed the house on a whim. Well, perhaps Pikachu wouldn't be so extreme, but it was a dangerous little pet so who could tell.

Red looked at him and signed, apparently not giving a crap about unpacking. Blue didn't understand all the words, a part of the language having died in him after so long, but he managed to grasp the main idea.

_[I'll explore. You in?]_

"Uh, sure. Let's see who catches more?" Blue challenged, gaining a grin from Red. Good to know the man was still competitive. At least then Blue could re-direct his unpleasant emotions somewhere besides sulking and stomping. Because damn, sulking and stomping were so uncool.

As they left the house, Blue realized he still didn’t have a word to describe how shitty he had felt when he saw Red for the first time inside that lab. He only knew that his current feelings were both super-tired from the travel, and excited to get going and prove Red his skills were much better than the last time they fought.

.

Blue didn’t catch any new pokemon. Blue also didn’t find any new species. Actually, Blue didn’t even leave the Malie City.

As soon as they stepped a foot into Ula'Ula’s hot humid air, Blue spotted a clothing store and dragged Red inside. He needed new pants, and besides, they still had time, right? In the end, Blue didn't find what he wanted, but Red seemed pretty happy with some red and white shirt he bought.

Afterwards, they stopped to try malasadas. The ones they ate were bitter as hell and appeared to be the type of food a Darkrai would eat, but Pikachu had seemed to love them so perhaps humans were the ones who simply didn’t have the refined taste. They didn’t talk much, but the silence was getting less awkward by the second and becoming more of a normal and pleasant thing.

Afterwards came a bunch of events which Blue didn't remember the order particularly well. Blame the unbearable sun heat. They bought soda, and then were stopped in the gardens by a child wanting to pet Pikachu, and before they knew it, they were battling against some kid and returning to the Pokemon Center for burn heals.

By the time they realized they were wasting time, the sun was setting, and a cool breeze finally blew to make up for the suffocating temperatures of Alola. They would never leave the city and get to the perfect tall grass spot if they kept on like this. Blue, not one to give up on his quests, drew out Pidgeot and promptly asked a confused Red where he was looking at.

_[Where are you going?]_

"Uh, catch those pokemons? Bro, it's not a moonlight that's gonna stop me from winning our little challenge." He said, petting Pidgeot's back.

Red stared at him for a long moment before signing again.

_[I'm going with you, then.]_

"As if!" Blue retorted, placing one hand on Pidgeot's head "Pidgeot here wasn't made for duo riding. It's tiring."

Pidgeot lightly plucked at his hand and pointed towards Red, as if saying _hey, I'm strong enough to take both of you, don't misjudge me._

" _However_!" Blue yelped, hiding his hand behind his back "I'm sure a short trip won't hurt!"

Red shook his head, adjusting his cap. Blue stuck his tongue out, petting Pidgeot one more time before climbing on its back.

And then another weird, time consuming thing happened.

Just as Red was about to climb in, his hands far too close to Blue's back, a shirtless man came running towards them while shouting "Hey! You can't ride that Pidgeot here, yeah?!"

Red took two steps to the side and frowned, crossing his arms. Blue jumped out of the bird and placed both hands on his waist, raising an eyebrow. The man stopped in front of them, panting.

"What?"

"You can't fly on that Pidgeot," the man repeated. Blue could only pay attention to the fact that the man was basically naked below a lab coat.  _Fucking Alolans_ , he thought "It's illegal."

Red glanced at Blue, and Blue knew exactly what his question was.

"And... how are we supposed to fly then?" Blue asked " _Actually_ , who are you?"

The man grinned, tilting his head to one side.

"The name's Kukui. I'm a professor here in Alola, from Melemele to be exact. To answer your question, you need a Charizard to fly here, yeah?"

Next thing he knew, Red was reaching for one of his pokeballs and looking at Kukui straight in the eye, his face a marvellous new shade of deadpan. His Charizard came out of the pokeball, looking around in utter confusion for a few seconds. Red pointed at it with both hands, Pikachu emphasizing the point with its tiny paws.

"Well..." Blue chuckled and leaned against Pidgeot, feeling kinda smug "Here's your Charizard. Can we go now?"

Kukui had started laughing, and said something about how Kanto tourists were the best. He then began telling them about a Rider Page, whatever that was, and damnit! Blue just wanted to catch new pokemon! But here he was, listening to a lesson on why Fly was just a fighting TM and how they couldn’t put it to actual good use here.

Kind of irritated that he didn’t manage to do anything productive, he said goodbye to this professor and walked home, Red at his side with Charizard's pokeball twirling between his fingers.

Looking at Red in the dim lights coming from the street lamps gave him whole new perspective. His aura had changed. Blue didn’t know exactly how, but Red was definitely different. Perhaps wiser, calmer, although still a tiny bit insufferable when he acted all cool and looked at Blue as if he were missing some sort of inner joke or something. Or perhaps Blue was just overanalysing and seeing things were there were none. Red, however, was definitely much more mature, so he would have to content himself with that little fact for the time being.

Blue noticed he was staring when Red turned his head towards him, one eyebrow arched and a tiny smile on his lips. Blue staggered and snapped his head forward, almost stumbling on the sidewalk.

"Well, it looks like the pokemon didn't have the honour of meeting us today!" He said "Too bad! Let’s go eat, yeah?"

If Red noticed how flustered he was and how loudly he spoke, he said nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> green's playing cards. don't ask, just go along with it, they'll have a purpose... if I may ask, how many of yall actually had those? I heard they aren't sold anymore... it's a shame. They're the reason I love misdreavus so much tbh (it was my first card).  
> Also, this is written in blue's pov, I loved Alola. I just think the two of them would really not understand why they had to get a license of some sort to travel via air.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the reviews and kudos! Those mean the world to me! I was also told that they still sell pokemon cards, and woah, I'm so happy. I'm probably going to check harder and out of the town I live in to see if I can find a place that sells them, but even if I don't, knowing they're still out there is amazing.  
> Anyway, this chapter is a little longer than the other two, but it's one I actually enjoyed writing a lot. Hope you all enjoy it too! Good reading.

Alola was actually pretty cosy at night. The air was warm, the skies were clear and filled with sparkling little white dots, and if you tried hard enough, you could hear the fairy pokemon singing softly in the wild vegetation of the Ula’Ula Island. The moon didn't seem to stop the island from celebrating too, and happy cheers followed by shouts and laughter could be heard through the open window of Red and Blue's shared bedroom.

The floor lamp was lit up, casting amber shadows on every wall and every corner in the room. Blue was sitting on the floor, just finished with setting each of his cards by pokemon type. Eevee was sound asleep on Red's bed, curled on top of Pikachu. Those two were the perfect picture of the "cute pokemon videos" Daisy loved to show him, and Blue didn’t know if he should be charmed or disgusted.

Red was sprawled on his bed, stripped down to a loose white tank top and his briefs, which was astonishing for someone who wore a coat on all occasion. He was scanning some local tourism magazine, a thing that Blue never actually imagined Red doing, but whatever fitted his boat. An empty box of berries was set by his side, along with his pokedex and some new flute he had apparently bought between their battle with a nosy kindergartener and the moment they almost became criminals in Alola for trying to ride a Pidgeot.

Blue sighed and stretched, loosening another button on his shirt before an idea occurred to him.

"Hey, Red," Red glanced at him. Blue pointed at his cards, smirking "Wanna battle?"

Red immediately got up, bed cranking under him and shortly disturbing the pokemon’s sleep. He sat in front of him, supporting his head on his hands, eyeing him with fire in his eyes. Blue leaned back, taking a coin out of his wallet with the smuggest expression he could muster. He got this.

"What's that? Still butt hurt over me always winning?"

_[I won four times.]_

"Yeah... Out of a million!"

Red put his game face on, as if he were about to school Blue on the art of card battling. He shuffled through all the decks Blue had been organizing and picked the sixty cards, handing them out in a way that would make anyone believe the single act of being the one giving the cards gave you higher chances of winning.

That never happened, unless you were seven year old Blue who cheated his way to the top ‘till he learned how to play.

"So..." he said, pondering his choices for the active and bench pokemon. Damn, his hand was really shitty, but fuck it all if he was about to switch. He was a man, not a Rattata. "How's life doing? Gold been visiting you a lot?"

Red glanced at him, taken by surprise. He nodded, finally placing his active cards on the floor.

"Man, I like that kid. He has it in him, you know?" Another nod, this time accompanied by a smile as Blue finished sorting through his hand "I wonder if he came here too. I guess not, I would have known, but one can wish."

The coin was flipped. Red pursed his lips, already mentally cussing at his bad luck.

"Viridian has been... Okay, I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty hard in the beginning. Sure, I may have the fame of being in the gym once every a blue moon, but lemme tell ya - one still has lots to do. Counting who got to your gym, who defeated who, who managed to reach you, who won the badge... It's lots of mathematics. But it's better than walking aimlessly, right? I mean, people don't seek me the same way they look for you, but it’s still nice to receive a call once in a while saying someone wants to battle you."

Okay, he was rambling. He was saying more than he should. But did he care at the moment? No.

Red flipped the coin, glaring at the offending object that was not cooperating. He then let go his cards for brief seconds, glancing at Blue.

_[Gym Leaders are good. You cool.]_

Blue chuckled breathlessly, evolving his Mienfoo into a Mienshao. He didn’t like fighting types that much, but he would have to deal with it.

"Wow, if I didn't know any better, I would say you just complimented me."

Red stared at him, unreadable. Seconds ticked by before he chuckled, switching his active cards. Blue did the same, grinning at his luck. This round was won.

.

A cool breeze softly blew as Wingulls flew over the seas, the early hours of dawn ticking by slowly as they walked through the dirt paths of Route 11. The only sound was the one of their steps, everything else moving around them like an unfinished dream. Red had both hands on his pockets, his cap pulled back as he lazily strolled along with Blue past the tall grass and younger trainers trying their luck.

They were walking more than anything. Most pokemon were either asleep or being disturbed by the more inexperienced trainers, and so there was nothing much to do. Red and Blue found themselves lost in thought as they stepped through more trees, and only seemed to regain consciousness once they found out a Mudsale was needed to cross Route 12. The twist was: there were no Mudsales around. It was like no pokemon existed in Alola before nine am.

Blue decided to imaginarily flip the bird at Alolan laws and drew out his Pidgeot. It wasn’t like the police cared much, after all. Both he and Red got on top of it without much of a word, flying above the rocks and only stopping after each and every single one of them was left behind. The sun was already getting high in the sky once they reached a small beach on the side of Route 13. Blue finally seemed to break out of his trance once he withdrew Pidgeot, looking around with a pout.

“Can you believe this?” Red jumped at his voice, looking back with a semi-frown “Not even a bird. Not even a fucking regional bird. Are we as trainers finally destroying the pokemon ecosystem? Is that it? Hm, I think ya should hide that fuzzy little yellow ball. It’s probably scaring away all the cool pokemon with its overpowered moves.”

Red shook his head, petting Pikachu’s ears. The little monster stuck his tongue out at Blue, gaining a forced grin in response. Eevee left them to their glaring and began to sniff at the sand, running from time to time as if looking for something. Blue was watching it run around when Red tapped his shoulders, pointing somewhere behind Blue with his head.

Blue looked up. A relatively small, old building was falling apart behind closed fences. It had an aura of abandoned and creepy almost compared to the scariest, most haunted place Blue knew named Lavender Tower. Just thinking about it gave him shivers. But of course he wouldn’t act like his craven eleven year old self and be afraid of nothingness, oh no. He was Blue motherfucking Oak after all. And besides, he really didn’t want to make a fool of himself in front of Red.

“Sure thing,” he smirked, patting Red’s shoulder and beginning to run towards the building “Race ya to the top, loser!”

He sprinted up the beach, past the crumbling stairs and jumped over some weird barricade blocking the way. He basically flew up the stairs leading to the building before slamming his body against its door, letting himself rest against it as he panted. He looked around, searching for Red who surely must be getting there in no time.

“Ah! I won!”

Nothing. Blue frowned.

“Hey Red, where are you?” he called, composing his breath and stepping away from the door “Got lost on the way?”

No response. Blue was about to give up and look for him when he heard a noise on the side of the building, as if something heavy had fell on the ground. Relieved and already thinking Red had finally gotten up there, he followed the noise, walking around the wall until he found an escape door hidden in the shadows.  _It closed and made that noise_ , he thought. Swallowing down a lump on his throat, he placed one sweaty hand on the door and pushed, shivering at the screechy sound it made.

It was dark inside, dust falling in particles which were visible under the sun rays coming from the opened door. Anyone who had been around ghost types could also feel the cold, electric touch in the air. A Gastly flew by, giving him a curious look before disappearing. The _Gengar family_ , just what Blue needed. Those three still gave him the chills.

“Red?” he called again, stepping inside and closing the door “Hey, Red, this ain’t hide and seek.”

Something yellow ran past him, giving him an odd sense of familiarity which was really, really badly placed. This had happened in a different context, right? Being in somewhere filled with mischievous beings and a heavy air, while being misled to somewhere he did not want to be in…

Ah, yes. Lavender Tower.

Blue remembered coming there like a champion, only to leap and turn around at the first creature that appeared in front of him. Of course he tried to push forward afterwards, but let’s be real. The damned place was haunted. Blue only found the way back to civilization because Red appeared out of nowhere, unfazed by the whole situation. Blue guessed that if Red had never appeared, Blue would still be stuck on that tower with Haunters flying after his poor, emotional ass while tricking his mind into believe in shit that was not there.

He sighed and ran after the yellow figure, one hand gripping Tyranitar’s pokeball. Now that he noticed, not even Eevee was there with him. He was alone, inside an abandoned… market, whatever this place was, looking for someone who may not even be in there. He spotted the yellow shadow again, its image clearer now. It was that damned, spoiled beast.

“He-hey, Pikachu! Come here!”

Pikachu ran away, Blue following suit behind. He ran past empty carts, down the rotten soup aisle, and completely ignored the bizarre looking pokemon dolls standing on top of a decomposing shelf. He could see the little mouse just up ahead, running inside some weird looking door, so close he could almost-

_Bam._

He collided with something – or rather, someone, the sheer force of the impact knocking him to the floor with a loud thump. He looked up in shock, a curse ready on his lips-

Red. Red was staring down at him, mouth agape, one hand clutching at his arm, Pikachu perched on his shoulders.

“What the fuck.” Blue muttered, voice getting louder as he went “What the fuck. What in the actual fuck! That thing!” he pointed towards Pikachu “Was just there!” he turned his accusing finger to the end of the corridor.

Red raised one eyebrow, looking between him and Pikachu.

“Don’t give me that look! It was just there!” he got up, slapping away the dust from his trousers “And where were you, anyway?”

Red didn’t answer, crossing his arms and looking around the market with some kind of interest. Really, what a weird guy. Well, it was a known fact Red liked creepy places and even weirder, bizarre pokemon, but this was seriously getting out of hand. Blue sighed and rubbed his arms, beginning to feel cold as an unpleasant tingling sparkled on his stomach.

“Dude, I’m telling you – there’s a ghost in here. Let’s hop out.”

Red chuckled and shook his head, pointing towards the small group of Haunters spinning around a smirking Gastly. Upon noticing the trainers staring, one of the Haunters stuck its tongue out at them. Pikachu did the same, receiving an echo of laughter from the ghost types.

“I’m not talking about them-“

A cart flew past them at top speed, colliding with the shelves and making an explosion of products rain on the floor. Blue shrieked and clasped his arms around Red, almost falling flat on his face. Screw this haunted place, screw ghost types, and most importantly, screw Alola. He could have been drinking coconut water while sprawled on a beach chair instead of having to deal with this! He gave Red, who was now staring at him with wide eyes and a sinking realization that this place was really haunted, a scandalized look and whispered “See? _See_?! I told you!”

That is, until he realized he was making a fool of himself and let got, taking two steps to the side and crossing his arms with a flushed expression (in embarrassment, not at the contact, obviously).

“What? I thought it was a ghost or some crap…” He murmured, before he looked behind Red with a gasp and pointed at the yellow thing standing on the floor “Look! Told ya I wasn’t making it up!”

Red turned around, finally looking perplexed as he laid eyes on the reason of Blue’s current problems. A weird Pikachu looked up at them, only… only the more you looked, the less weird it looked and more wrong it got. It’s body looked like it was made out of cloth, its face was painted in what appeared to be crayons and two small holes were cut on his chest, like eyes piercing right through Blue’s soul. Oh, the thing also spoke.

“Sss-se-see me?” Its head tilted awkwardly to the side “See m-me wow?”

Blue swallowed down, mouth immediately opening to fuck up the situation to the highest extreme “Uh, I think the word you’re looking for is ‘now’, bu-buddy.”

It was the last straw. The thing leaped, one claw coming from below its body to scratch at the nearest pokemon. Red raised his arm straight away, Pikachu jumping with its cheeks sparkling in yellow. Thunder roared through the place, the flash almost blinding Blue’s eyes and scaring all the ghost pokemon. The flashed cleared afterwards, leaving Blue with a gasp as Red took a sharp breath. It was still standing. Its head was the only thing different, having cracked to the side in a way Blue assumed was absolutely unnatural.

“Tyranitar!” He shouted, throwing the pokeball up and taking two steps back. The Pika-copy, as Blue would call it as of now, looked back at him with interest.

Tyranitar was standing on the floor in no time, ready to crunch any threat that came its way. Pikachu stood ready too, cheeks glowing in the dim light of the room. Red and Blue switched glances, nodding in agreement.

“Crunch!”

Red clutched his fist and swiped his hand to the side, a move Pikachu seemed to understand perfectly well despite the fact it meant nothing in sign language. The Pika-copy flinched as Tyranitar collided with it, sending it flying to one of the selves before Pikachu appeared from behind, its electric body throwing it several feet ahead.

“Red, now!”

A Dusk Ball was thrown, hitting the pokemon and capturing it. It flashed once before opening. Pika-copy jumped out and twirled, using its claw to throw the ball back at Red’s face. The ball hit his nose and made him tumble back, clutching it in pain. Blue cursed as the pokemon blabbered something, looking at him with a fierce gaze.

“Shit, dude, are you alright?!” Red gave him a thumbs up, still holding his nose. His eyes were shinning with interest, now.

The pokemon came forward again, but this time Pikachu and Tyranitar didn’t do anything to it, strangely calm on the small beast’s presence. It ran towards them and stopped, head bouncing back as it looked up. Blue didn’t understand, and was about to yell at Tyranitar to attack before he saw some sort of realization hitting Red’s face. Red came forward, crouching to pick the pokemon up and turning towards Blue, almost nudging him to pick it himself. Blue stepped back unsure.

“Me-me-me curse… Mimikyu-c-curse-me-“ the pokemon grumbled out. Mimi… Mimikyu? Was that its name?

“You… you want me to take it? You think it wants me to take it?”

Red nodded, confident in whatever bullshit was on his mind. He stared right into Blue’s eyes, his unnerving Pikachu sticking his tongue out at him. The rag-doll-like pokemon was thrashing around, beginning to blabber again but not quite energized enough to fight back. Blue gulped, fingers itching at the thought of touching the thing. Not only did this pokemon apparently have an obsession with little old Pikachu, it also gave Blue the shivers.

“Me-me-me cur-curse c-c-c-urse… c-curse-“ Mimikyu kicked at Red’s hand, making him hold it tighter in an embrace-like grip. Blue gulped upon hearing that strained voice. Pokemon weren’t supposed to speak like that, were they? But Mimikyu here didn’t seem to be a usual pokemon, did it?

Pikachu hid behind Red's legs, whining at Blue to hurry up as its master pleaded at him with his eyes. Mimikyu itself was in distress, not knowing if it wanted to escape, stay with them, or go and pray to the yellow electric ball of irritation behind it. Blue sighed and extended one hand, waiting for Mimikyu's reaction before even trying to pick it up. He was not as physically strong as Red after all, and accidentally making the pokemon run away in tears was a death sentence.

"-curse y-you...?"

It stopped. The tiny eyes visible thorough the cloth stared at Blue's hand in confusion. Then, slowly and shakily, the black ghostly hand came out of the cloth again, moving forward to meet Blue's. Red held in a breath.

The touch was cold, almost impossible to even actually feel. However, the moment he touched it, Blue felt his irrational fear slipping away, giving place to a neutral ground of acceptance. Without much thinking, he moved forward and held Mimikyu in his arms, the pokemon hiding back on its disguise. It was weird. Blue still didn't trust it, but it was as if something just... clicked. He never felt this before. His relationship with Eevee was formed over five long months of hardships and battles, the pokemon only trusting him after hundreds of antidote bottles. But Mimikyu? It suddenly seemed to love him, on its own creepy way.

Blue looked at Red, wondering if the man noticed it. Given the tense posture, Blue guessed not.

"It's fine," Blue told him, glancing down at Mimikyu, who was now going back to its creepy blabbering nonsense "This little... champion here was clearly uncomfortable with your filthy hands on it."

Red sighed in relief, adjusting his cap with a low gaze. Mimikyu squirmed.

"What's that- oh, wanna go inside now?" Blue chuckled “Now, now… I’m sure all this… Gengars and Haunters need your presence, so… you sure you wanna tag along?”

He placed Mimikyu on the floor, taking a few steps back towards the door. Red’s gaze was fixated on him, like a mother waiting to see if her child did any mistake. Mimikyu walked after him, Pikachu following it with curiosity. Blue withdrew Tyranitar and walked faster, barging through the market’s main door and falling on the floor as Mimikyu jumped on top of him.

“Okay, okay! Inside you go!” Blue surrounded, smirking “If you want me to be your trainer so badly… Tell me, which pokeball do you prefer? Dusk, Great, or-“

As soon as he took the pokeballs out of his belt, Mimikyu touched the first one it saw and went inside, the ball locking immediately. Blue was agape, staring at it in shock. He saw Red stepping out of the market, a worried Eevee leaping from behind him to crawl towards its trainer. Scandalized, Blue tilted his head up and whispered, receiving a huge grin in response.

“Red? I think I just got caught.”

.

The rest of the day was spent walking around aimlessly. The sun was burning hot above their heads as they searched through the tall grass, defeated young trainers who came their way, and during the whole trip between 13 and Mallie City (they travelled by Pidgeot, thank you. No one tried to stop them anyways, and if they had, the good old ‘I didn’t know’ always worked), Blue could swear he would die from insolation.

By six in the afternoon, they were slouching back home, stomachs empty and legs heavy. Red was the worst, his hair gluing to his overheated face as his hat almost fell from his head. His clothes were also clinging to his body, and damn, he was really _fine_. What had he been doing up in the frozen mountain of his? Sure that wasn’t just all the poke-training, right? Not that Blue had paid attention, of course.

As soon as they got home and switched to more comfortable wearing, though, it became apparent six years in cold weather were not much of a good background to have before you decided going to Alola.

They were sitting on the floor, in front of each other, the window wide open. Red’s face was competing with his namesake, bright scarlet covering it– especially his nose. He looked awful and itchy. The idiot had managed to get sunburn while _wearing a cap._

And so Blue, the amazing person he was, was trying to help his long term rival recovering. Only, he had no idea how to. He never got sunburnt, you know? What did people do? Let it pass? Wash their faces with some sort of special soap? He supposed people applied some sort of lotion, but was it a normal one or a hydrating type? Arceus be damned, Blue didn’t fucking know. And Red’s twitchy signing wasn’t helping.

“Look, what about burn heals?” Blue said, exasperated “They work on pokemon, so they should work on you, right?”

Red gave him one long stare, as if slowly processing the idea. Finally, he raised his hands and signed, the words a little bit jumbled together and so fast Blue had no idea how he managed to understand what the man was telling him.

_[Ice ones work, so burn heals should work too]_

Blue really didn’t want to even phantom how Red knew that. Instead, he took one burn heal out of his bag and stammered, holding the thing awkwardly on his hand. Oh damn, how were they going to do this?

“Uh- okay, I got an idea! I’ll just… do this-“ he sprayed some on his hand, watching as the thin particles turned into liquid “And you closed your eyes as I put it!”

Red frowned but did as he was told, closing his eyes as he waited for Blue to get it on with it. Blue sprayed some more on his palm before coming closer, placing a handful of it into Red’s cheeks. For a moment, everything seemed alright. Red was calm, and Blue decided to test his luck and spread the burn heal a little bit more, and everything was fine.

Until Red’s eyes snapped open and he crawled back, hissing. Blue sat straighter and threw the bottle aside, gulping as Red tried to clean away the liquid with the bottom of his shirt.

“Dude! Dude, are you alright?!”

Red glared at him, rubbing his face before answering with a scowl and a pained expression.

_[Burns.]_

“Burns?” Blue raised one eyebrow, looking around and spotting his tiny box of tissues. He reached for it and threw it at Red, who caught it and immediately took one “Red, that’s a burn heal. It should do everything but burn.”

Red raised his arm and flipped his wrist, letting it hang for two seconds while scowling.

“Don’t give me that look! You know I’m right!”

Red seemed ready to retaliate when someone knocked on the door. Both of them looked up just in time to see Samson rest himself against the wall, arms crossed as one eyebrow rose in disbelief.

“I was worried something may have happened, but I see you were just being silly. Tell me, were you just trying to treat a sunburn with a burn heal?”

Blue looked down at the floor, embarrassed. Red did the same, dropping the tissue on his lap and biting his lip.

“Uh- you see… No?” Blue tried, receiving a sigh in response.

“You’re just like your grandfather… Stay here, you two.”

And Samson left, muttering rather cheerfully to himself about ‘kids this days’, whatever than meant. He and Red stood in awkward silence the whole time, and for once, Blue really wished Pikachu would get up and do something the break the mood. When his uncle came back, after at least five good minutes of waiting, he brought some sort of weird looking lotion with a sun and a happy child playing with a Pichu on it.

“Here, take it. It hasn’t been used in a while, but it’ll do its job. Take better care of yourselves next time, yes?”

Samson left, leaving Blue feeling rather stupid. A moisturizing lotion proper for sunburns. Of fucking course. How could he be so dumb? The answer was in front of him the whole time! He shouldn’t have thought of _burn heals_ before proper healing lotions!

Without much of a second thought, he crawled closer to Red and grabbed the bottle, putting some on his hands and beginning to spread it. He began on Red’s cheeks, his fingers coming down to brush against his square jawline, his chin, the bridge of his snub nose. Red’s face was warm, really warm, and Blue was just finishing with rubbing the excess of white lotion on his cheeks when the man opened his eyes.

Blue’s heart stopped. Oh shit, he hadn’t thought this through, he definitely hadn’t thought this through. He was on the floor, basically cupping Red’s face between his hands, both of them inches apart from each other, while the last rays of sun came inside from the open window. What must this look like? Hell, what would his uncle think if he came through that door right now?  _Crap._

Blue pulled away, a forced smile on his lips to mask the beating of his thrumming heart. He told himself he wasn’t blushing, that he was just red in embarrassment, that he had felt absolutely nothing while doing this, but damn it. He knew himself better. He knew how his poor gay heart was. He knew what he had once felt, before a certain someone disappeared from the mundane world.

“All done,” he managed to say, crossing his arms and leaning his back against the bed. He didn’t notice Red doing the same, grabbing his cap and pushing it far down his face with one hand “What one has to do for your uncaring ass. I could have just left you to turn into an itchy shiny Magikarp.”

And just like that tension was over, Red shaking his head and challenging him for revenge at TCG.

.

Blue walked through the doors, facing the champion throne. He remembered this. This was when he defeated Lance, right? His memory seemed foggy, deep blue dusk covering his vision as he tried to focus ahead. He knew which pokemon he would use against Lance by heart, he knew he was going to win with only Gyarados awake. He just knew.

But when he got there, it wasn’t Lance who was staring down at him. It was Red. Red had arrived first. That could be the only explanation. Red had fought no one after becoming champion. But… didn’t Blue become champion first?

He felt his mouth move, but didn’t process the words leaving it. Red got up. Soon they were throwing their first pokeballs, and Blue felt images flying in front of his eyes. One moment Marowak was up, the other it was down. Pikachu was gaining territory, but was quickly smashed to the floor by Venusaur. The images got faster. Suddenly, the battle was over, Red giving him a petrified look of loss.

No, that’s… that’s not right, is it? It didn’t happen like this- did… Did Blue win?! He-he did! It said so. The title was just handed to him. But…

His grandfather walked through the doors, and suddenly all of that left his head. He won. He was the very best, like no one ever was. Big old Professor Samuel Oak must be so proud right now! Blue even finished with the pokedex on his way there!

His grandfather congratulated him shortly, before walking towards Red. Blue frowned. Why was he walking towards Red? Blue won. He won. He had a feeling his grandfather wouldn’t come to him and hug him if he had lost, so why was he doing that to Red?

“How disappointing, you lost.” He said. Red looked down, dejected and clearly sad. No. That wasn’t right. Blue had been the one who- “But what it’s done, is done. You’ll win eventually, with hard work and dedication. I know you will. I’m proud of you for managing it this far. You accomplished a lot on your way here, after all.”

Why. Why?! Red lost! His grandfather hadn’t said that to him when Blue himself did, so why was he being so nice now?!

“And you,” his grandfather turned towards him, eyes empty “Good job. You kept our family name intact. However… You forgot to treat your pokemon with love and trust. I don’t know how you’re champion like that.”

Blue looked down, his pokeballs melting through his hands and splashing on the floor. He felt like screaming, but his throat was tight. The words repeated over and over in his head, until void consumed his vision and all he could do was hear of much of a failure he had been.

He wasn’t champion, was he? No. This wasn’t right. He must be dreaming. He never became champion… or did he? He didn’t know anymore. Two different memories seemed to be colliding into a bigger one, only Blue didn’t know which of the memories was true or false. But he knew he had never won against Red.

“Of course not.” One girly voice supplied.  _Daisy._ He looked up, and sure enough, Daisy was looking at him, a distant expression on her face “You only reached the League ‘cause of gramps. You aren’t a good trainer. You never were.”

Blue took two steps back, and Daisy’s figure too melted away, leaving him with a shriek. He tumbled against something and when he looked back, Red was staring at him, his eyes void of any emotion. Was this when they fought, a few weeks prior Red’s departure for Mount Silver?

Words passed between them, words Blue didn’t comprehend, and suddenly everything went black.

Blue jumped awake, sitting on his bed and panting.

What was that just now? Blue had experienced endless numbers of nightmares and restless nights before, but this? This was just flat out insane. It was screwing up his brain. He looked to the side, sighing in relief. Yes, he was still in Alola, Red was still a champion, and as far as he was concerned, neither his grandfather nor Daisy had ever actually behaved like that.

He laid his head against the pillow and laid there for a long time, watching as the moonlight entered the room and danced around its shadows in complete silence. Eevee eventually cuddled up to him, as if asking if he was alright. He sighed again, turning his eyes towards Red. The man had his back towards him, his body curled in a ball with Pikachu sleeping peacefully between his arms. He focused on that for a while, relaxing his mind in time with Red’s breaths.

After a good half an hour of contemplation, he got up. Eevee whined at him but remained in bed, pouting and curling up on his pillow. Blue brushed it off and put on his slippers, heading off to the kitchen. He stretched and grabbed a glass, filling it with water before sitting on the small island in the middle of the room. He let his head rest against the cool surface of the island, flashes of what actually happened that day, almost then years ago, filling his mind. Why didn’t he win? Would it really have mattered if he had, though? Would he get what he wanted? He didn’t even know what he wanted to begin with.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up, jumping a little once he saw Mimikyu staring at him.

“You out?” he asked, incredulous. Mimikyu poked at his hair, and Blue noticed its head was still hanging to the side, the vision rather disturbing “Why? Don’t ghost fairies sleep?”

Mimikyu seemed to stare at him, pointing its claw towards the corridor which leaded to the bedroom in confusion. Blue raised one eyebrow, taking a sip of his drink.

“Rising early makes you prettier. That’s why I’m up. Now you… We gotta fix your disguise up. You’ll fool no one like that.”

Blue got up and went to his uncle’s drawer of supplies. There was one tiny basket stuffed in there filled with cords and ribbons and everything of the like. He grabbed one yellow ribbon and went back, sitting on his chair and tying it on the disguise’s neck. He pulled and twisted it a little until the head was standing straighter, smirking at his work. Mimikyu looked up in wonder, playing with the ends of the ribbon.

“It’s the best I can do for now. I‘m sure you’re better than me at this. We’ll have to buy a tiny sewing box for you, eh?” He replied, resting his head against his hand. Mimikyu seemed to like the idea, twirling on the island before sitting down in front of Blue “I just don’t get why you have such an obsession with Pikastupid, though. Do you compare to it or something? You’re much cooler, in my opinion. Fairy and ghost actually are pretty rad.”

Mimikyu appeared to frown at him, hiding its claw below its cloth. Blue felt like the creature believed he was lying to it, and suddenly it all made sense. Suddenly, he knew why Mimikyu had taken such a like to him. Blue looked at the corridor and sighed for the millionth time that night, finishing his water and petting Mimikyu.

“I know, I know. Who am I to talk, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaah, we're finally getting to the nightmares tag on this fic. This one is more of what Blue wished he was told when he lost against Red (since the papers are inverted and Red was the one losing instead), but I'm not planning on making his whole character revolve around that day on this fic. I hope you liked this nonetheless.  
> Anyways, the next week will be a little bit hard on me, so I don't know if I'll be able to post. I'll do my best to keep on writing it, though!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well dang, this is a long chapter. But it just felt wrong to cut it off in the middle, you know? I felt like I would have posted a chapter where only one relevant thing happened if I did so.
> 
> Also, since this is technically an author note, I would like to point out that when it comes to Red and Blue's starters, I'm basing myself on my playthrough and not Pokemon: The Origin or the actual Pokemon anime. So yeah, both of them have Eevee and Pikachu, and Red has all of the starters (cause he's a badass), but when it comes to their first official pokemons? Nah, bro. Red had a Squirtle and Blue a Bulbasaur. 
> 
> Anyway, a big thank you to everyone who's still reading this and leaving kudos! You guys rock! If you have the time, a nice comment would also make my day. Good reading!

It was around eight am when Blue stepped out of the bathroom, drying his hair off with a towel as he tried not to wake up his uncle. The task was complicated, since his flip-flops were basically making an echo of noise through the house, but he surprisingly managed it to the bedroom without much of a fuss.

Red was still curled in bed, a thin blanket covering his body despite the warm temperature of the room. The curtains were drawn close, but they did nothing to prevent most of the light from coming inside. Eevee was lazily looking up at him from its spot by the pillow, tail wiggling. Blue was surprised to find Pikachu on his bed too, sleeping all sprawled out by Eevee’s side.

He chuckled as he grabbed the towel from his hair and lightly threw it a Red’s face, successfully disrupting the man’s sleep. Red turned around with murderous eyes, taking the wet piece of rag and throwing it back at Blue.

" _Wakey wakey_ , sweetheart. Rise and shine!" He sang, turning towards Red with a shit eating grin.

Red only kept on staring, brows knitted together and his face appearing darker with the bags he had under his eyes. However, his sunburn didn't help with the menacing look he was trying to achieve... Not like Red was scary, anyway. Blue crossed his arms and tilted his head, far too amused with the reaction.

"What? It’s eight in the morning, ya know? We have work to do!” Red frowned even harder, pulling the covers up his face “Hm, going back to sleep? And here I was about to tell ya about this cool bus that takes one to the top of Mount Hokulani – you know, the one on that magazine you’ve been scanning for the past two days?  _Yeah._ But if you don’t want to, guess I’ll go all by myself... Do you think uncle Samson wants to come?”

He turned around, putting his shirt on and pretending like he was about to leave. Soon enough, Red was jumping out of bed and grabbing his sleeve, eyes wide open as he gazed at him in curiosity.

"What was that now? You’re thanking me for being an amazing friend?" Blue said, receiving a light punch on the shoulder "Fine, fine!"

He stepped back, smirking. He held his hands behind his back, watching as Red got less and less patient by the second. Finally, and before he was killed, Blue sighed and moved to draw open the curtains, his voice low.

"There's a bus to the top of Mount Hokulani. We're catching it."

Red stared at him, as if not believing the words. Blue's grin turned wider, and he sat on his bed with a high chin and a satisfied soul.

"What? You don't wanna go to an  _awesome_  mountain filled with  _awesome_  pokemon and an even more  _awesome_  company?"

Red turned around harshly and took out the first piece of clothing he found in his bag, putting it on in a matter of seconds. Blue only sighed and let himself fall on the bed, grinning at his amazing plan-making skills.

.

Getting inside the bus wasn't the toughest part, despite the not so discrete glances they ( _Red_ ) received. The hardest was actually getting to the bus stop.

Never in his life had Blue seen such aggressive flying types. Even the Skarmory behaved like angry Spearows ready to eat their eyeballs off. Absolutely unbelievable. But they eventually got to the top of the mountain, delighted at the far much cooler temperatures of the place.

The day was spent walking around and trying to catch new types. Blue even let Mimikyu out on occasion, since he had to train it for future battles. It was fun to go back to the life of being  _Trainer Blue_  and not _Gym Leader Blue._ It was laidback, easier, and left him with a huge grin on his face by the time he (as always) got more types in about two hours than Red had the whole afternoon. Red always took his sweet time with everything.

Eventually, they laid down by the grass to catch their breaths, the skies beginning to change to a beautiful palette of oranges and pinks. Blue was gesticulating wildly as he told some joke, Red hiding a grin behind one hand as the other twirled a pokeball between his fingers. They sat there for long minutes (or rather, Blue sat, since Red was laying lazily with Eevee on his back as Pikachu chased whatever its little devious eyes were seeing), before something occurred to him.

"Hey, remember my pendant?" Red nodded "Well, I sort of broke it three years ago and had to change the chain, but it got pretty cool! Look."

He took his pendant off, the stone exactly the same shape and format, but the chain a dull golden colour instead of bright silver. Red seemed interested, tilting his head as he gazed at it for a moment, a light frown above a focused gaze.

_[You covered the stone, too.]_

"Uh, yeah. I was afraid of it breaking even more. But it’s still nice.”

The necklace used to be this beautiful pendant his grandfather got him a few weeks before his tenth birthday. At first, Blue thought it was a normal one given to him as a good luck charm, but he quickly found out it actually could reflect attacks instead of just hanging boringly on his neck. It was an amazing piece of jewellery, if you asked him.

Red nodded, smiling and going back to lying on his patch of grass. He seemed truly happy for once, body completely relaxed as a faint smile adorned his otherwise neutral expression. Blue found himself staring, and was quick to look away and try to put his necklace back on.

He stopped at trying. Pikachu got bored with chasing bugs and decided to bite the damned thing straight out of Blue's hands, jumping far away from them and looking back with the _dickiest_ look Blue ever saw a pokemon doing. Blue shout at it and turned towards Red, scandalized.

"Your  _son_ stole my precious belonging!"

Red closed his eyes and turned on his side, pretending not to hear him.  _What a dick_. Now Blue understood where Pikachu got it from.

"Red! Do something!" Red proceeded to shove his cap further down his face "Red- ugh, fine! You! Gimme that!"

He got up and chased after Pikachu, who turned around and took off sprinting, necklace dangerously close to hit against the rocky ground. Blue shout louder and ran faster, cursing every Legendary he could think of as his lungs began to tighten.  _Damn it stamina, where are you?_

After a few insults to Entei, Palkia and Zapdos, Pikachu finally stopped. Blue ran towards it and threw himself on the ground to try and catch the damned beast. Pikachu twirled out of the way, giving a satisfied huff once Blue hit his face against the dirt. Blue turned around, still down, and rubbed his face with far too much aggressiveness.

"You lil’ demon, I'm tellin' ya! Gimme that or you'll see why I'm the seventh gym leader being challenged!"

Pikachu stared at him, as if not giving less of a crap. Which was comprehensible, since it had beat Blue's ass quite a few times and probably didn’t care about how hard to beat Blue supposedly was. Blue tried to launch at it again, but Pikachu jumped over his head and twirled out of his reach.

"I'm telling you! That's important to me, give it back! Or is being a lil’ pest more important than being a good boy?"

Pikachu gave him one long, icy stare. Then it slowly stuck its tongue out and put whole necklace inside its mouth, its cheeks getting an awkward and angular shape and  _just fuck Blue's life harder, Arceus, will you?_

"EWWW! Rude! Spit it out!"

Pikachu set on running again, going all the way up the mountain and past the awing tourists who took the scene with glee.

.

After what felt like hours chasing the mouse around, Blue finally got his pendant back. The process involved getting Alakazam to confuse Pikachu while Blue forced the thing out of its mouth, but everything worked in the end.

They were currently walking back to where they left Red and Eevee doing whatever their lazy asses did, stiff and tired from running around. They walked all the way down the mountain and turned towards where Red would be, only to find the spot empty. Blue frowned, calling out for the man but receiving no response.

He looked down at Pikachu, bawling his fists "See? Now he left us all alone 'cause you were bitchin' around! What now?!"

Pikachu seemed not to care, walking back up the mountain with mild interest. Blue groaned and followed it, wondering if it was so used to Red randomly disappearing it no longer cared. Blue certainly wouldn’t get used to this.

They walked and walked, the sky growing darker and darker as Blue searched in vain. Blue was growing more frustrated by the second, thinking of every hypothetical situation as to why Red was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he had been kidnapped by angry Fearows? Or had joined a dragon type cult? Maybe he had grown tired of waiting and went back home?

He was ready to give up when Pikachu set on running. Blue was about to yell at it not to go too far without him when he spotted what the mouse was running after.

Red was sitting on the edge of the mountain, his back towards Blue as he rested his head on one hand. His cap was set aside, Eevee sleeping on top of it as he gazed up at the sky. Upon hearing Pikachu, he turned around. His eyes landed on Blue, and that's when it finally clicked.

"You goddamn bastard!"

Blue stormed towards Red, stopping in front of him and crossing his arms, brows furrowed as he almost spat out his words.

“You leave just like that?! Where were you?! You can’t just disappear whenever you want to, you know?”

Red stared up at him, deadpan as usual. It was weird to stare at Red without him having his cap on, but Blue was far too caught up on his sudden anger and indignation to make a comment about it. Also, who gave Red the right to walk around with Eevee? Eevee was  _his_. Blue had only been running around with Pikachu because the beast was a spoiled little brat.

Okay, he was probably being selfish as hell. But damn if he cared.

_[Eevee ran after you. We lost our way afterwards.]_

Blue felt the colour draining from his face. For once, he thanked whatever powerful deity that might be closer to him for the fact he had kept his mouth shut instead of spatting out his idiotic thoughts. They followed him and got as lost. And Blue was about to insult him and the two pokemon just because he was mad.

“And you couldn’t have, like, walked back?” Why couldn’t he just drop it? Blue felt like he was just being petty now.

Thankfully, Red seemed to have understood that and sighed. Blue swallowed a lump on his throat and passed one hand through his hair, suddenly feeling tired from all the walking and running he had done.

“We should go back. Don’t wanna get stuck up here.”

_[Wait.]_

Blue looked down, incredulous. Red sat still, making no move to get up.

“What?”

_[Wait. A little longer.]_

Blue didn’t understand the sudden need to stay up there longer. They had spent the whole day walking around the top of the mountain! What could Red possibly want now? Blue didn’t voice this, though. Instead, he decided to sit by Red’s side, Eevee immediately crawling up his lap and proceeding to fall asleep there. Pikachu seemed content enough by sprawling out in front of them.

Minutes seemed to pass by. The sky was a dark purple now, a faint orange still visible on the thin line between it and the sea. A full moon was making its way up, just by the side of an even larger mountain in the middle of nowhere. Blue wondered if that’s where the League was built. The air was getting considerably colder up in Mount Hokulani though, and for moments Blue found himself cursing the world for not having brought a jacket.

He looked at Red, who was still staring high in front of him, elbows propped on his legs as his head rested on his hands. He seemed to be in some sort of trance. Blue gazed at the grass and started to pick on it, finally deciding to break the silence.

“Ya know, just because you stare hard at the night sky, it doesn’t mean you’ll get closer to the truths of the universe. Quite the contrary.”

Red jumped at his voice. He gave him one quick look before going back to whatever he was doing. Minutes ticked by. The sky grew darker, until only dark blue covered in white dots was visible.

_[-stars]_

Blue’s head snapped to the side. Had Red been talking to him?

“Didn’t catch that, what?”

_[The stars. There’s stars.]_

Blue frowned, not getting his point.

“Well, yeah. They’re always there, even when we don’t seem them. They are in Kanto too, ya know? Bet the view is even better from Mount Silver. The thing doesn’t have lamps and all that shit.”

Red shook his head, appearing nostalgic as his brows knitted togrether and his lips slightly pursed.

_[Cloudy, though.]_

“Cloudy- oh.  _Oh_.”

Blue finally seemed to get it. Mount Silver was an ice cube filled with wind, okay? It snowed constantly, be it summer or winter, and unless you were at its lowest point you would eat that frozen climate, whether you liked it or not. Blue didn’t know where Red had lived. He found him training in a cavern, but he was most certain that wasn’t where he actually slept. Blue also didn’t know why Red had decided to live there, to begin with. But the point was: most of the time, the sky wasn’t clear. It was cloudy as fuck instead.

Red probably hadn’t seen stars in a long, long time.

"Hm… The constellations are different here, you know? Kanto has a different space vision, I guess. Damn man, you haven’t seen the sky in six years?"

Red shook his head.

_[There are occasional clear days. Lower down the path, during summer.]_

"Still!" Blue said, staring up "Conforming with empty skies, freezing weather and solitude? You're crazy, Red. Really crazy."

Red seemed to shrug, one hand coming to mess with his own hair before he lowered it again. Blue scanned the night sky, looking for those two constellations his sister told him about. Daisy had a thing for those types of stuff, you know? She was speaking about the agglomerates of stars visible in Alola before it was even cool. One big, shiny dot caught his attention. If his calculus were right...

"See that big one over there?" He pointed. Red quirked an eyebrow and nodded "If you squint hard enough, you'll see five other stars around it making a... uh... making a house shape around the bigger star?"

Red took a few moments to process what Blue was trying to show him. Then his features softened, and he nodded.

_[A pentagon.]_

"Yeah, whatever. A pentagon, a house, who cares?" Blue coughed "Anyway, that's the sun guardian of Alola or something. Neat, hmm?"

Red frowned, squinting at the constellation.

_[Solgaleo?]_

"Yeah."

_[Doesn't look like a Solgaleo to me.]_

"It probably looked like a Solgaleo for the first people living here, dummy. And if we follow the rule- uh, three to the side- there! Lunala!"

Three palms to the side and one up, was the shape of Lunala. It was a flat "u" with one stripe dashing down in the middle and two shiny stars on each side of it. It looked nothing like a Lunala, if you asked Blue, but who was he to criticize? He knew nothing of astronomy.

_[Where?]_

"There. Here," Blue scooted closer to Red, their legs brushing together, and pointed towards the two shinier stars on each side of the stripe. When it was apparent Red was seeing no shit, Blue slightly tilted the man’s face with his hand. Red then seemed to find it.

_[I probably will remember none of this tomorrow.]_

Blue chuckled "Me neither, dude. Me neither."

_[But you knew where they were?]_

"Well, you ain't wrong."

Silence fell over them again. Blue didn’t move from his spot, and Red didn’t seem to mind his personal space being invaded all of a sudden. After a while, Blue found his voice again with a question.

"Hey... That Charizard you have. Gramps gave it to ya, right?"

Red nodded, confirming Blue's suspicions. The pokemon had mysteriously disappeared shortly after the championship, so Blue guessed Red had taken Charmander with him. A gift for winning, perhaps? His grandfather sure liked to hand pokemon out, if bribing Gold with a Dratini meant anything.

"Knew it! Someone like you would never have the luck of finding one in the wild."

Red shook his head, sighing.

_[I found a Bulbasaur once. Caught it. Not as annoyingly quick as yours, though.]_

Blue laughed, covering his mouth and slapping one hand on his knee as he did so. Red was staring at him, confused.

"Course not! No large pokemon is as fast as my  _Bulba_... though I didn't bring Venusaur with me."

Red frowned, turning his body towards him. Blue gulped, fiddling with the grass below his fingers.

"It got an infection. On the flower thingy, you know? Some bug got too close, apparently. It's under Daisy's care though, so it should recover quickly- oh, yeah, Daisy is studying pokemon medicine now."

He quickly changed the subject. He remembered being reprimanded like some ten year old once his grandfather found out Venusaur was seriously injured. Who cares how much Blue had progressed when it came to pokemon caring? Apparently it hadn't been enough, since it was Blue's fault, since he should have ‘treated it sooner’ – great old Samuel Oak’s words. Seriously, the old man needed a vacation to tone it the fuck down. Blue knew for a fact it wasn’t his fault, even Daisy said so.

Red, however, didn't seem keen on dropping the subject.

_[Will it be back before we leave?]_

"Maybe? It has more than enough time to recover. Why?"

_[You like classics. Figured you would want to brag about your very first pokemon.]_

"Red, let's be honest.  _Bulba_  wasn't my first pokemon, just my starter. Remember that wild Pidgey, when we were , like, eight? Damn, that was a nice catch.”

_[It tried to pluck your hand out. Also, Oak made you release it.]_

"Little, mindless details.”

Red shook his head, turning his head back to the stars. For a few moments, Blue believed Red had gone back to his own little bubble and proceeded to drop out of the conversation just like that. One street lamp lit up behind them, making him notice how dark it had gotten. A part of him hoped they didn't lose the bus down the mountain, but the other was quite content with the soft wind blowing on his skin and the familiar presence by his side. It wasn't so bad to have Red with him, after all.

One memory came to his mind. What had he felt two days ago, when he stepped into the lab? He had been utterly hurt and jealous, didn’t he? So why didn’t the words felt right when he thought about it?

Red nudged his shoulder, gaining his attention.

_[Did...]_

He stopped, looking at his hands and sighing. He composed himself a little before proceeding, grabbing his cap and fitting it firmly down his face.

_[Did she worry?]_

Blue swallowed down dryly, blood going cold. He knew exactly what Red was talking about, and he didn’t know how to put his words in a way that wouldn’t hurt him. Blue may be happy to see him, and may also be acting all cheerful, but he was still mad over not being contacted for such a long time.

Oh well. Red did ask, didn't he?

"She did come by a few times asking what she'd done wrong. She pointed her finger at me quite a lot during most of those visits, too. Seriously Red, she's your mother. You could have called her once in a while instead of acting like an antisocial bastard."

That hit the nerve, making Red glare at him with all the fire he could muster. Blue stared back, unmoved. Red harshly moved away from him, making Blue realize how close they had been and how much he was beginning to miss that comforting warmth at his side.

“What? It’s true. You disappeared out of the map. No one knew where you were. Everybody was worried. But ya just had to go on and behave like a bratty child, didn’t you? Why did you go up there, anyway? There’s plenty of space in Kanto for you to brood in peace that isn't fucking frozen and away from civilization.”

Red snapped his head to the side, avoiding eye contact as he hastily got up and motioned at Blue to follow. Something quirked inside Blue and he stomped up, Eevee whining as it suddenly woke up to cold grass. No, Red couldn’t just ask to be nagged and then turn his back on him. They weren’t little children anymore. Red shouldn’t run away from a mess he himself walked into.

“Oh no you don’t, Red! Red! Listen to me!” he stomped after him, making a move to grab his shoulder but being pushed away “You ask, I answer. Your mother always cared about you. You don’t know what it was like the first months after you evaporated. You know  _nothing_. ”

Red stopped on his tracks, not turning around. Blue was beginning to lose his cool.

“You can’t run away from your problems forever.”

Blue could feel his clenched fists trembling in anger as his legs hurt from standing frozen still. His head was running miles per hour, and he was sure he was snarling more than he wanted. He tried to take a deep breath, before he said something he would regret. He hadn’t felt this irked in ages. It was just like when he walked through his grandfather’s lab doors and was faced with the sudden arrival of the so called Champion of Kanto. His filter was about to run short. Only this time, Samuel Oak wasn’t here to stop him.

Red finally turned around, cap shading his eyes. He suddenly looked much broader and taller than Blue remembered, his figure static and covered in shadows which made him appear more intimidating than he actually was. Blue crossed his arms and straightened himself, biting his tongue to keep himself from speaking.

_[You’re no better.]_

“I’m better than you when it comes to family, apparently.” He answered in a beat. Red clenched his fists, taking a shaky breath before signing again.

_[We’ll lose the bus.]_

Blue gave a snarky laugh, shaking his head.

“So you’re just gonna run away, again? So brave of you.”

Red turned around and stalked down the rocky path, not sparing Blue a glance. Pikachu ran after him, apparently too stunned to even shoot Blue an offended gaze. Blue marched after him, hushing at Eevee that it was nothing when the pokemon blabbered at him.

.

Trees were scattered all around him, covering his view and making him feel quite claustrophobic as he hunched behind a bush. He had no repels to his possession, no pokeballs, and only his Ratatta seemed to be awake. Viridian Forest. He was back at the Viridian Forest.

He got up and tried to walk around the tall grass, flinching back as he accidentally touched it and heard a buzz. He needed to go back. He needed to heal his pokemon. He only had enough potions for three of them. He gulped and took two steps back, taking them out of his bag and deciding to heal at least two of his pokemons so he could move forward.

He blinked and, suddenly, he was running down a bridge, the trainers frozen along it staring at him with piercing gazes. He stopped, hearing the sound of footsteps.

Red.

Red was giving him a look akin to surprise, both hands on the straps of his backpack and his far too big cap nearly flying out of his head. Blue frowned and looked down, not finding it weird that a battle had apparently started out of nowhere and basically all of his pokemon (except Bulbasaur) were out. This… This was the first time he lost, wasn’t it? When Red and Blue fought at the lab, Blue had won. Now, however…

_Bulba_  made a pitiful sound, twitching. It’s health status was still high, though…

“Tackle! Tackle with all you’ve got!"

Bulbasaur launched, colliding with empty air as Squirtle jumped to the side. His pokemon panted and turned around, but Squirtle was already there, tackling it in revenge and sending it flying towards him. But it still had enough health to make it, if it tried a little more…

_“It was poisoned! How could you let it stay poisoned for a whole day?!”_

Blue flinched. Memories were bundling together in flashes. One second he was staring at Red across the battlefield, the other he was being reprimanded by his grandfather. His imagination, perhaps? Where was he, even? Was this real?!

“Tackle!” Little Blue screamed again.

Bulbasaur ran and passed straight through Squirtle’s body, as if the water pokemon was nothing but an illusion. Blue’s eyes widened as he took one step backwards. Red seemed unfazed, tilting his head at Blue’s distress.

_“Well it’s not like I knew it! The damned bug must have done it while I wasn’t looking!”_

_“Excuses!”_

Blue shook his head, clenching his fists as Bulbasaur barely missed a bubble attack. He yelled vine whip, but it missed. Bulbasaur stared back at him, worn out… But he had to win. He had to!

“It’s not my fault, I’m tellin’ the truth!” He shout at Red, momentarily forgetting who exactly was speaking to him.

Red stared back, face blank and void of emotion as his hands stood motionless on each side of his body… Yet, Blue could understand him perfectly.

_[You should have known better. Look at it, it’s poisoned, it’s weak, it’s barely standing. And what are you doing? Battling.]_

Blue looked down. Bulbasaur was no longer there, being replaced with a huge Venusaur with a purplish tint around its flowers. Poison. It was poisoned! It needed- Blue needed to-

Too late.

Blue’s head snapped up and the battle was over. Venusaur fell back inside the pokeball, exhausted. An older Red had his eyes fixated somewhere behind him, arms crossed and lips pursed. Alola. They were in Alola.

_[You still have one left.]_

Blue looked at his hands. A Great Ball stood shiny in the mist covering his vision. He swallowed dryly, holding himself back and looking up with a confused expression.

“What are you going on about? It’s untrained.”

_[Weak, you mean.]_

“Untrained.”

_[Weak.]_

“Untrained! What’s with you?! You know better than anyone-“

_[Weak, just like you.]_

Blue wasn’t weak! Did… Did Red think he was? Was that the reason he hadn’t accepted to battle him after the championship and before going up to that mountain? No... It was impossible. Red would never think of anyone as weak, the same way he would never force an untrained pokemon such as Mimikyu to battle

A dream. This was a dream.

A white light flashed before his eyes and suddenly he was in Lavender's Pokemon Tower, cowering in a corner like a cry baby…. Only, he was older than he was back then, and Mimikyu was out of the pokeball and running away. Blue wanted to run after it, but… He needed to wake up before this story got any worse and nonsensical. A high place. He needed a high place to leap from. He always woke up after he jumped. His grandfather explained to him it happened because the human brain didn’t know what happened after death, so could not proceed with a dream sequence if it occurred.

He ran away, in the opposite direction Mimikyu was sprinting to. He ran straight past the darkness and dust flying around the Tower, he ran until the walls turned into void and the only sound he could hear was the one of his footsteps.

Bam.

He collided with someone and fell. Blue was prepared to get up and keep on going when he saw Red stare down at him, like he had done when they met at the Market, in that old crumbling space in Ula’Ula Island. And then Red was offering his hand for Blue to take it, as if his dream counterpart had not just insulted him and his pokemon. Blue took his hand nonetheless.

_Red only smiled and signed._

_[I missed you.]_

He woke up with a startle, turning on his side and gasping. He looked out the window and tried to compose his breathing, sighing in relief as the moon stared back at him instead of some weird, twisted and nightmarish bullshited being. He gave up trying to make sense of his newest dream, focusing instead on the sound of the wind softly blowing outside.

I miss you, uh? His brain seemed to have some pretty fucked up wishes. Red didn’t miss Blue. He probably was only putting up with him to make his stay easier. The fight they had back on top of Mount Hokulani was just a proof of how their complicated relationship was. Now that Blue thought about it, he had been kind of an asshole. The man was curious about how his mother was, and what had Blue done? Yeah. It wasn’t a surprise Red was so pissed and had not spoken to him since then.

Blue turned his eyes towards him, clutching Eevee closer to his chest as his stomach did a weird twist.

The truth… The truth was: Blue had missed Red. A fucking lot. He even went up that damned mountain of his just to see him and (try to) apologize for his stupid childish behaviour. But it had been of no use. And when he saw Red, inside the lab, a nervous twitch to his body as he tried to act all cool and strong while he definitely wasn’t… It made Blue really upset and jealous. He got angry, true, but he was glad Red hadn’t seen his first reaction: a jaw drop and an itch of breath, combined with his body turning to stone as he stared dumbfounded at him.

Red hadn’t missed him. Red probably disliked him. Blue, on the other hand, was only too… too prideful to actually speak up. Blue was stuck on joking around and procrastinating the talk he had planned on his head countless times before.

He sighed, trying to get some sleep back into him.

He woke up an hour later, though. There were no sweet dreams waiting for him.

Sometime later, Red himself got up and left the room. Blue waited till he came back, but that only happened when, hours later, the sun began to rise.

.

"Look, I'm just suggesting we take this route so we can get there faster- no Red, we're not flying. Pidgeot has its limits, and flying all the way across the sea with both of us on top is out of question. Why don't you get Charizard, if you're so concerned?"

_[How do you suggest we both get on top of Charizard?]_

"Well, how about you take one and I take the other-"

_[No. People would see.]_

Blue sighed. Things hadn't got much better since last night.

They were currently discussing the best way to get to Akala Island. Apparently, there were some cool dragon like pokemon Red wanted to see, and since they were planning on visiting all of Alola it was a nice starting point. However, their opinions on how to get there differed. Blue wanted to travel by ferry. They had a discount thanks to the League, so why not take it and spoil themselves a little? Red, however, preferred the old dull and cheap way: pokemon travelling. Too bad the distance was relatively too long for two people on one bird.

So here they were, arguing just outside some sushi restaurant, the sun getting higher and higher each passing second. Blue was really losing his mind.

"People will always look at you. You're Kanto's Champion, Red; the one who went off to the frozen mountains and came back with an overpowered Pikachubby. You catch the eye."

Red only huffed, crossing his arms and looking at him in the eyes. He looked anything but intimidating, with his sunburn still healing and a yellow mouse trying to chew his cap off. Blue sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Look, we have a discount. A discount, Red. Let's just take the fucking boat and get out. You wanna catch those Salandit or not?"

Red looked back at him, pondering his choices. On one hand, he had the judging eyes and gossiping tongues of Alola in a compressed space with little to no place to escape. On the other, he had pretty dragon hybrid beings (that apparently weren’t dragons by pokemon logic) which breathed fire and only evolved if female.

If you knew Red, you knew he would take the latter anytime. His passion surpassed his anxiety.

.

Getting inside the ferry boat wasn't hard, despite everything. They only had to wait one hour. Blue had gone through far worse waiting times before... only, he didn't have to put with an awkward silence and an annoyed company.

Apparently, Red was still mad about hearing the truth. Well, too bad for him. A small part of Blue's mind felt like it was his fault for being so damn blunt, but he ignored it.

They eventually got inside, and managed to slip past a few photographers and Kanto tourists who definitely knew who they were. In no time, they were on one of the lower floors, staring out a large window as some children movie passed in the background. Only a few people were in this... bar, restaurant, whatever room this was, so the stress was slowing draining out of Red's face.

They sat in silence the whole trip, Red too focused on the sea and Blue too focused on acting like he truly wanted to stay mad at his rival. He only hoped those Salandit were worth it.

.

The Salandit weren't worth it. One tried to bite Blue's hand off as another jumped at Eevee and almost burnt its ears off. Red, being the asshole he was, had stayed on the side lines and laughed his ass off at Blue's misery.

Afterwards, it was a quick succession of mundane events. Blue ordered Eevee to use Shadow Ball as Red let out his Blastoise. In no time, the two little demons were stuck inside two different pokeballs, Blue sighing in relief and letting himself fall on the grass.

Also, he got a lady Salandit. Joke's on you, Red.

"Ah! Mine will evolve! How does it feel to be stuck with a weakling?"

Red only gave him a hard stare.  _No pokemon are weaklings_  - or, at least, that's what Blue thought Red was telepathically trying to tell him through his infuriatingly beautiful reddish eyes. It faintly reminded him of his most recent nightmare, so he gave of one twitchy grin at the uncomfortable feeling suddenly pooling on the pit of his stomach.

"Nah. But there are some stronger than others. For instance, my Arcanine would always kick big old Snorlax's ass anytime - don’t give me that look, you know it's true."

Red only quirked an eyebrow, getting more annoyed each passing second.

_[Wanna bet?]_

Blue pursed his lips, looking up at him. He slowly rose to his feet, pulling off his best fake smirk. His blood was running hot, his fists clenched and body sweating from the sun and his nerves. Red had never challenged him. No, showing off was more of Blue's deal. To say he was surprised was an understatement.

"Bring it."

Red kept his gaze stuck on him, one hand inching for a particular Ultra Ball. Seconds seemed like hours as a canvas of ideas swarmed past Red's eyes. Blue gulped. Eventually, Red sighed, letting his arms fall flat on each side of his body.

_[Later.]_

"What?!" Blue gasped "Why? Afraid you'll lose?"

Red turned his back on him and started to walk towards another patch of tall grass, paying him no mind. Blue clenched his teeth, stalking after him with Salandit's pokeball tightly gripped between his fingers.

"Oh, c'mon! Ya can’t just turn your back when the theme doesn't satisfy you! You're so impossible!"

Red shrugged, keeping on walking. Blue threw a few more curses his way, resigning himself to pouting and pushing his sunglasses up his nose as he stomped by Red's side.

Their hunt didn't last for long, since soon the place was filled with young trainers neither of them had patience to deal with. Then they got moving, silently agreeing to stop on the nearest town to at least buy a bottle of water.

Blue found himself reminiscing about his childhood as they walked. He and Red were never the type to get along well, but they also never seemed to actually hate each other. They just argued a lot, pranked one another, and more often than not would run away together towards the tall grass just to annoy their guardians. They always had long discussions revolving around their future, if they would be rangers or trainers, if they were going away to become coordinators (neither of them liked that idea), or if they would just keep on living with card games and old pokemon dolls.

Now that Blue really thought about it, Red had been his only friend. Sure, Blue may have been one of those popular jocks back in his day, but actual friends? The other Pallet kids would rather let him die in Viridian Forest than lend him a hand when he most needed. Red, despite being an annoying kid who loved to pick on him by poking his arm non-stop for hours straight or lightly pulling his hair until he paid attention, was always there. Blue still wasn't exactly sure about what the other boy had seen on someone as obnoxious as him.

But they argued, and argued, and argued. If Blue was honest? The main reason that brought him to learn sign language was to argue with Red. _And_ to brag about knowing something his grandfather did not. Blue would also be damned if during all this time, between starting to hang around Red and becoming his rival, he hadn’t been jealous of all the attention his neighbour got. It was a weird mix of feelings he had for the boy, really.

But then they started their journey, Red surpassed him and became champion, and they never spoke again.

Until now.

They stopped at the Royal Avenue’s market, Red fixing his cap before entering it as Blue took off his sunglasses. Blue got some water bottles and pokeballs as Red refilled his potion stock. They met again by the counter, not meeting each other’s eyes as they mindlessly waited for the cashier to finish with their stuff. Red was finishing with paying for everything when chaos seemed to erupt at the other end of the market.

“Dude, what the fuck?!” Blue exclaimed, turning on his heels so quickly he almost let his bag fall on the floor. Red had the decency to look shocked too, his potions half fitted on his bag half resting on the counter.

On the other side of the market, some kid was battling an old man with an Eevee. Blue found the whole thing very bizarre. Back in his days, he couldn’t even run inside the markets, much less battle. He couldn’t deny the whole thing was pretty darn amazing, though. The kid had a pretty well trained… surfer Raichu on her side?

“Is that an Alolan form?” he found himself whispering, jaw dropping. The thing was beautiful. Far better than any other Raichu or Pikachu he had ever seen. The Pikachu of all Pikachus didn’t seem to share his opinion though, hiding away behind Red as if it too would evolve just by looking at a Raichu.

“It’s a show off, that’s what it is. Battling in a market, for Solgaleo’s sake, who does that?”

Both Red and Blue turned their heads to the source of the sound. A boy, no older than fifteen, accompanied by some blond edgelord, was leaning against the wall, clearly displeased with the whole situation.

“That girl, apparently.” Blue said, gaining his attention “Damn, that old dude is having his ass wiped. Look at it, Raichu is just playing around! Impressive, if I do say so myself… Perhaps one little pest has to give it a try, hm?”

Pikachu hissed at him, not liking the direction the conversation was taking.

“Ah, you right. You would be ascended to the quality of Legendary Pokemon if that happened,” Blue smirked as Red shook his head, hiding a grin “Anyway, what’s going on? Is this another Alolan tradition?”

Both boys turned to him, sceptical. The one on his fifteens raised a brow, nose turning as if this was the millionth time that month he had answered the same question.

“Nah, it’s just my sis. That ‘old dude’ challenged her to defeat some Eevee trainers across Alola, and now is trying to win against her. Needless to say, he’s failing miserably. Even I would do better, without as much fooling around of course.”

He seemed completely done with whatever was happening in his life now, and Blue really didn’t know if he should be annoyed or not. He had some people like that coming to his gym once in a while. Those were easy to defeat but usually left him feeling quite displeased for the rest of the day.

“The man is the one showing off.  _Tsh_ , he waited for her to become champion just so he could challenge her. He’s an idiotic snob, that’s what he is.” The other boy said, one hand fiddling with his ear piercings.

At the word champion, Blue had to give a double take. The girl had longer hair than in the pictures, and she was wearing a much baggier blouse instead of the tight tank tops he was used to see her in, but… yes, obviously. How had he not noticed? Arceus, he was supposed to approach her at the Battle Tree! She was _Moon_!

And if she was Moon, that could only mean…

“Hmm, Sun, right?” he said. The boy nodded, scratching the back of his neck as he winced at something happening in the battle.

“And this is Gladion,” Gladion huffed at the mention of his name “Weren’t you two supposed to be opening up the Battle Tree or something?”

“Uh, well-“

“Oh, it’s over."

And sure enough, the battle had ended. The man’s Eevee was sprawled on the floor, unmoving as Raichu floated around and giggled at its trainer. Moon herself was smiling vaguely, as if trying to pretend she didn’t know she was going to win. Typical, Blue thought. He too knew what it was like to be only eleven years old and already feel like the world wasn’t enough to satisfy him. He too had no challenge while gaining his badges. The only one who stood up against him was Red. This chick probably felt the same. He was sure Red had felt the same. He was sure even Gold or Sinnoh’s champion had gone through the same thing.

However, her modus operandi wasn’t the most perfect thing in the world. Playing around with pokemon can be dangerous if you end up battling against someone like Blue, who attacks in full force and has no patience for debilitating attacks.

Some boy with a ponytail ran towards Moon, fist bumping her and beginning to clatter excitedly about the battle. Blue heard Gladion groan and when he looked, the boy was already halfway across the market, his hands on his pockets and his back hunched. Sun turned towards them, his dark eyes gluing on both Eevee and Pikachu before he too went off with a low ‘Alola’ on his lips. Both Blue and Red stared at the kids as they left the market, talking about crap Blue didn’t understand, and before he knew it the place was quiet again.

Red finally came to his senses and finished packing his potions, turning to Blue with a weird look.

“What? You weren’t expecting to find those two here, plus an edgy child?”

_[You aren’t one to talk about people’s clothing.]_

“Watchu on about?” Blue said, frowning “I was talking about the piercings and the whole ‘fuck my life’ look. Gladion had a pretty neat style. Loved them cloth holes.”

Red gave him an exasperated look, bringing one hand to his forehead.

“And do you mean ‘ _you aren’t one to talk about people’s clothing’_? My sense of fashion is amazing, thank you.”

Red pointed at his purple jeans and white button up, fingers lingering at the Arcanine patch there. Blue only crossed his arms, doing his best to sound offended. The man refused to battle against him, criticized his fashion choices, had the nerve to look amused while doing so…

“Well, have you looked at yourself? Jeans and a shirt? What year are we in? That’s so uncool, dude.”

Red only shrugged, picking up Pikachu and motioning at him to follow. Blue sighed in defeat as he got ready for another walk in silence, stomping after Red. They were already halfway down the Royal Avenue when he got tired of trying to match his pace with Red’s one.

“Ya know what, Red? Your front his much prettier than looking at your back the whole day.”

At that Red finally stopped and turned around, eyes widened and brows raised as stared at Blue like he had lost his mind. Blue smirked, walking past him and throwing his arms over his head.

“Damn, if I knew this would make you stop for a little, I would have done it sooner!” he said, laughing. Red followed him, crossing his arms and huffing.

.

Night was falling as they finally reached the island’s main city. Its life didn’t diminish even though the sun was down, children running around as adults chatted along the sidewalk. On one shady corner, Blue spotted a small store filled with fabrics and buttons, and basically forced Red to go inside with him, a promise he made two days prior coming up his mind.

Not much time later they were walking outside, a little sewing box and some yellow fabric packed inside a plastic bag. Red, obviously, gave him a funny look and asked if Blue was taking sewing has a hobby; and Blue, being the good friend he was, flipped him off and kept on walking. Those weren’t for him anyway. Mimikyu was the one needing needles and a stronger piece of cloth to survive the trainer life.

They were walking by a beach when Blue started to feel rather hungry, his stomach reminding him he had eaten nothing but a malasada in the past five hours. Asking Red what he wanted though, was a mistake. Soon enough they were stopping on their tracks and arguing over which option was the best – since there was no way Blue was having the half-ration human meant foods Red apparently had taken a like to.

After what seemed like ten solid minutes of arguing, Red tilted his cap backwards and crossed his arms, motioning with his head to the side. Blue followed the motion and stared at the empty beach with its dark, calm ocean. Then he stared back a Red, raising one eyebrow.

“You wanna fish our dinner?”

Red shook his head, eyeing him as if he were dumb for not understanding his vague pointing. He motioned with one finger at his belt and then at Blue’s, tilting his head towards the sea again and making Blue frown even harder.

“You wanna bang me in the ocean? Red, that’s not happening-“

Red shook his head furiously, going pink from his ears to his neck. He sighed, bringing one hand to rub at his face before giving up and deciding to actually tell Blue what he wanted.

_[Let’s battle. Who wins picks the food.]_

Blue gagged his next words and had to take a second to recover, shaking one hand in the air before stopping and taking a deep breath.

“You wanna battle. Right here, right now.”

_[I said later, didn’t I?]_

Blue sighed, placing one hand on his hip and looking at Red with tired eyes. The man really had promised it after they caught those Salandit.

“You’ll be the death of me, ya know? Let’s go, then! One on one! No mains, though.”

Only after they got down on the beach did Red turn to him, one pokeball in hand, and asked something that made Blue chuckle.

_[Mains?]_

“Yeah, mains. Ya know, Pikapi and my girl Eevee.” He pointed at both pokemon, who seemed to shrug and took off on running through the beach as they realized they wouldn’t be battling. Red himself shrugged too, keeping his pokeball on his hand and motioning at Blue to get going.

Only when he grabbed Arcanine’s pokeball and threw it high, the faint sound of a Snorlax being woken up from its slumber inside its Ultra Ball, did Blue realize that woah.  _Woah_. How long had it been since he battled Red? He gulped and clenched one fist, realizing that he was really going to face him after so long. He was so damn excited. It was as if suddenly all of his senses were acutely amplified. The wind hitting his face and exposed arms felt warmer, the impatient sounds Arcanine was making with its paws as it waited for him to get on with it were ten times louder, his vision seemed to have grown sharper…

He was feeling whole again.

Red threw his arm to the side in time with Blue’s shout, the battling officially beginning as Snorlax hit Arcanine’s side and was burnt by a well-aimed flamethrower. Snorlax staggered back, shaking its head and marching forwards like an unbreakable fortress, ready to smash everything on its way. Arcanine jumped to the side, moving to bite it but failing miserably as Snorlax suddenly turned around and slammed into it. Arcanine flew back, landing on its paws before twirling and going on with flamethrower again.

At some point during the battle, Blue found himself lost in the moment and simply fought like he was in a dream – a good dream, not the fuckery he was currently facing each night. It felt just like when he was younger, only this time he wasn’t trying to impress anyone and his Arcanine was much quicker on its paws and trusted him more blindly than when he was a little kid with no full grasp of what it was like to be a trainer. Red himself seemed to have grown stronger (if that was even possible), and it was clear he had spent a good portion of his time improving Snorlax’s speed.

After a while of throwing attacks back and front at either full speed or full force, Arcanine was growing tired. It was okay, since Snorlax itself seemed more ready to take a good ten year nap than to keep fighting. Red hadn’t given up though, his eyes focused on each move as his body seemed to wake up from its usual lazy stance. For a few moments, Blue could swear he saw the ten year old little Red inside him again, his whole being filled to the brim with energy and this weird mix of happiness, excitement and nervousness again. Blue himself felt light headed, probably grinning too much for his own good.

For probably the first time on his life, he didn’t even mind when he lost. The memory of their arguing, only twenty four hours previously, was just a piece of dust on his mind. It had felt good. It had felt amazing. Pokemon battling was the one thing both of them were passionate about, the only thing both of them could lose themselves in without having to make chat with one another. And if Blue tried hard enough, he could forget Red had abandoned him for six years and only come back because his grandfather asked him to.

“Man, that was a close one. One more crunch and boom, your big lazy Snorlax would be down.”

Red only shook his head, fixing his cap and smiling faintly. Pikachu and Eevee ran towards them, but Blue paid them no mind. He felt warm when he looked back at Red, this weird smile momentarily taking over him. Such a shame they would have to go back home and ruin the best moment Blue had over the past-

Oh shit. Oh shit.

Red must have noticed his face dropping, because soon he was touching his shoulder and giving him the concerned eyes. Blue pushed him away and stared at the ocean, cursing as he saw one particular large source of light ready to leave Akala’s dock.

“Oh fucking hell, the boat Red! We’ll lose the boat!”

It was Red’s turn to have the sudden realization they were both about to get stuck on the island. Without a word, they turned their heads towards the stairs leading out of the beach and ran, placing Eevee and Pikachu back inside their respective pokeballs and sprinting down the relatively crowded streets of Heahea City. Blue collided at least twice with some random person walking down the street, but he could care less at the moment. Damn, how long had they been just walking around and battling?

The Ferry Terminal was just within visual reach, a loud noise echoing out of it as the boat set ready to sail. Red and Blue sprinted towards it, ignoring the weird looks they were receiving from basically acting like madmen at the late hours of night.

Blue collided with the metal bars which separated the Terminal from the water and shout series of curses, watching as the Ferry drove away through the dark sea. Red himself took off his cap and clutched one hand on his hair, biting his lip and stomping backwards.

They lost the last boat back to Ula’Ula.

_They were screwed._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I tried to keep Sun and Moon pretty open to visual interpretation. Sure, I mentioned Moon has longer hair and was wearing a baggy shirt, and that Sun had dark eyes, but besides that? I feel like anyone can see them how they want to. Besides, the only thing that is important right now is that Sun is older and Moon's the champion, so yeah. They aren't the focus of this fic.  
> Anyway, the next chapter will be considerably shorter than this one. I just couldn't force myself to cut it off after Blue and Red argue, you know?
> 
> EDIT: I'm re-editing this story and holy crap, I think this was the chapter where I stopped giving a shit and just wrote as I wanted to? IDK, before I was afraid of posting this fic according to what was on my mind in fear none of you would like it, but well. We gotta let go of that some day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually like this chapter, woah, it must mean it's either acceptable or awful.  
> Anyway, this one focus more on their relationship between each other and Blue's relationship with his grandfather and sister than actual action? Yeah. Basically a complete opposite of chapter 4. In theme and length.  
> I also wanted to thank you all so much again! Happy some of you are till following and enjoying this story! Good readings <3

“No, not there-  _auch_! Could you stop strangling my hips so much-  _Red_! Thank you.”

You see, if you told Blue that he would end up soaring through the skies with Red on one particular hot night after losing a battle, he would laugh at you. But it turns out life didn’t exactly like him so there he was, with barely any space left to move as Red had to basically clutch himself to him to avoid falling, Pidgeot flying far too slowly for his liking.

“We’re probably only a few miles from Ula’Ula, so if we don’t make a fuss and keep high, it should not be problem.”

He was lying through his teeth. There was no way Pidgeot could carry both of them for so long. But he had a reputation to keep, and as long as Red believed they wouldn’t get stuck in the middle of nowhere, it was all fine.

Red only tightened his hold on Blue’s waist, staring down like the ocean was about to swallow him whole. Blue sighed and gazed forward, giving one light pat to Pidgeot’s head before ordering it to fly even slower. Better take a while to get to land than to go far too fast and crash on water.

However, the proximity between him and Red was really, really distracting. Blue had to mentally slap himself a few times before he did something stupid. What was with him, anyways? This was his  _old childhood friend and rival_. He shouldn’t have this sort of reactions.

“Look, there is Solgaleo again- and Lunala, too.”

Red stared up and nodded, but Blue had the feeling he didn’t exactly see the constellations. Blue was about to point that fact out with a cheeky remark such as ‘scared of the highs, Red?’, when he fell the height drop. Drastically.

At first, Blue thought he was dreaming. Pidgeot stabilized again, and suddenly there were little fairy pokemon flying around him, their weird bodies shining below the moonlight. He was quick to realize that this was real when the whole world fell again, Red clutching him tighter as an embarrassing scream tumbled from Blue’s lips.

“Shit- Pidgey! PIDGEY!  _Keep it together, keep it together_ -! Up!  _UP!_ ”

Pidgeot flipped its wings two times just before they almost collided with the water, the world going black as rush of adrenaline ran through Blue’s veins. He was okay, he was fine, he was alive- he was intact, at least. Red was the one shaking, his cap having fallen off and his hair brushing against Blue’s neck as the man took a shuddering breath. Blue himself was panting, fingers digging on Pidgeot’s feathers as he leaned back against Red, trying to take comfort on the only other human presence here.

“We…” he coughed, trying to catch his breath “We need a plan B.”

Red weakly nodded, one hand moving to his belt and throwing a pokeball in the water. Lapras chirped at them from below, its head tilting at their probably disgruntled look. Red pointed at it with one shaky finger, urging Blue to get closer. Blue ordered Pidgeot to do so, finally catching his breath.

“Can it take us both?”

Red shrugged, jumping off Pidgeot as soon as they were close enough to Lapras. Half of his body fell on the water as his arms clasped Lapras’ shell. He hissed and lifted himself up, patting the pokemon’s head and looking up at Blue.

“I don’t think we’ll both fit in.” He said. Red shrugged it off with a hand and motioned at him to just get on top of Lapras “Bro, it can’t take us both-“

Red had enough and simply slapped some of the water on Blue’s face, making him hiss at the freezing temperature of it.

“Fine, fine! I’ll do it!”

He got closer to Red and tried to place on foot on Lapras, yelping and taking it back when the pokemon swam away from him. Red quickly raised his hand, giving Larpas one pointed look. Lapras got the message and anchored itself, giving Blue an impatient look. Blue only gulped, trying again and failing miserably as he slipped on the wet shell and fell under water.

He panicked for a second as water filled his senses, but was quick to gain consciousness and swim up. He emerged with a gasp, his hair gluing to his face as he struggled to swim towards Lapras and take a hold on it. Red held one hand out, helping him up. Surprisingly enough, Blue didn’t feel cold as he got out of the water and propped himself on top of Lapras, withdrawing Pidgeot for a well-deserved rest.

“Damn, that was so embarrassing.” It was his turn to hide his burning face on Red’s back, receiving one pat on the hand as weak way of comfort “I just fell in it, like that, with no gracefulness whatsoever!”

Red shook his head, making some hand move which got their current biological boat on motion. Blue sighed.

It really wasn’t comfortable. They were both too big to properly fit on top of it. Red shifted a little forwards, but to no use. Blue then leaned down and slowly tried to get at least a tiny bit more easeful, but failed miserably. After a few attempts, he simply gave up and turned around, flopping with his back against Red and facing the sea. Also, his soaked clothing was doing nothing to make the experience comfier.

Minutes ticked by, the only sound being the one of Lapras diving trough the water. It was sort of relaxing, in its own way. Blue looked up, the sky above him a beautiful picture of darkness with millions of little stars, all making forms he couldn’t decipher but sure as hell could appreciate. The memory of the previous day assaulted his mind, and he leaned back against Red with a sigh, a chuckle escaping his lips afterwards. Red awkwardly tried to look back at him, but Blue just kept on chuckling until his voice turned into laughter.

“Ah, Red…” he finally said, letting his arms fall flat on each side of his body “We’re such losers, ya know?”

Red seemed to giggle, tapping at Blue’s arm to make him go on.

“We fight over shit that happened years ago, argue over which transportation to use – and lose the fucking boat at that… And if that wasn’t enough, we also pretty much suck at eating schedules. What time is it? Eleven? Midnight? Should have gone with the fishing our dinner option, really. Would have cost us less time.”

Red nodded, shifting a little on his seat.

“It’s just…ugh, I’m gonna be honest here. I’m petty as hell, dunno how you put up with me… And you? You’re so cool, you were like, this friend I could always count on, ya know? Even for the shittier things, like stealing from gramps lab or ruining our neighbours’ lawn by stepping on the daisies. You sort of pushed me into this life, ya know? I… I didn’t mean for things to end up like they did and… I was… I was- when you left…”

It felt like his throat was closing up. Damn, he was so close! This was what he was waiting for, ever since Red left! And now? His body was screwing him up as his pride and inconvenient anxiety took over. Why couldn’t he just say  _‘I was really sad when you left’_ or  _‘I missed you’_? It was lamer than the whole testament he had planned on his head, but it was something. Or he could just  _apologize_ , Darkrai be damned.

But of course Blue was a huge loser and couldn’t just do that.

He groaned in frustration and straightened up, kicking at the water. Red himself was unusually quiet – or, quieter than he normally was. His body was stiffer and Blue could swear he was holding his breath. Good god Blue, you fucked up the mood. He shifted a little on his seat and looked back, towards where Lapras was heading. Ula’Ula was already on his field of vision, but seemed at least a good half an hour of traveling.

“Let’s… Let’s just forget this lame ass conversation ever happed, okay?”

Red said nothing, staring at his hands. After a few moments of dead silence that made Blue’s hair stand on edge, he signed something, making Blue’s heart jump a beat.

_[I missed you too.]_

This was all bundled and hard to decipher, since Red barely lifted his hands to point at Blue properly, but it made Blue feel a weird twist on his gut nevertheless. He could feel his face heating up as he gulped, having a sudden need to cut off the conversation before he really, really screwed up. Quick as ever, he turned around to sit back on his original position, his chest pressed to Red’s back as he placed one hand on his shoulder and faked a casual smirk.

“Awww, always knew you were a softie!”

Red sighed and slapped his hand off his shoulder, raising one hand to fiddle with his cap only to lower it in disappointment when his finger met with empty hair and wet strands.

 Blue only laughed.

-

It was around seven when Blue woke up the next morning, unable to keep sleeping. He started to wonder if he had a nightmare he didn't remember, or if his body was simply eager to start the day at  _seven in fucking morning._

With one groan, he got up and put on his slippers, marching into the kitchen and turning on the TV. There was a note on the fridge, and he picked it up as he sat on the little kitchen island, shuffling the channels till he found one that pleased him.  _Aether Paradise - the Truth About Type: Null_. Would work, even though it was an over discussed theme.

He looked at the note and read to himself, faintly hearing Mimikyu and Eevee getting on the table.

_Alola!_

_(un)Fortunately, I was called to Melemele Island to deal with some new investigation Kukui is leading. It's nothing special, but I'll probably not be back until tomorrow night. There’s leftovers in the fridge, and the spare keys are below the carpet._

_Don't blow up the house,_

_-Samson._

Blue sighed. His uncle had probably written this yesterday, while Blue and Red were finding their way back home. Stretching a little, he turned to the two pokemon, waving tiredly.

Eevee had something on its mouth. A bag? Blue took it as Mimikyu stared rather impatiently at him, shifting from side to side. Blue peeked inside and smiled, taking the yellow fabric and little sewing box out. Damn, with all that happened, he completely forgot he had bought it! Good thing he didn’t lose his bag the same way Red had lost his cap. It would be hellish to find another store like the Akala’s one.

"You wanna get your disguise completely revamped, lil’ one?" Mimikyu nodded eagerly "Well... I know like, zero percent about sewing so... lend me a hand?"

Mimikyu was quick, grabbing the fabric and taking a pen out of Arceus knows where, beginning to draw blue lines over the yellow colour of the rag. Soon enough, the pokemon was handing him some scissors, urging him to cut the fabric through the inky markings.

"Like this?" Blue asked as he began, cutting everything till the very end. Mimikyu made some creepy noise, which Blue was beginning to find really adorable, and took out a needle, moving to stitch its disguise all by itself "Woah, woah, little guy! Lemme get that for you. Why don't ya go get some crayons for the face, hm?"

Mimikyu did just that, leaving Blue to mumble as he tried to sew the whole thing back together. Eevee cheered for him, pawning at his hand every time he cussed in despair. Thankfully, the disguise was easy enough to do. In the ten minutes it took for Mimikyu to find its crayons – and make a mess out of the house,  _Arti_  -freacking-  _cuno_ , how didn’t Red wake up? – Blue had stitched the whole thing, a proud smirk on his lips.

Mimikyu got back, handing Blue the crayons and snatching the disguise out of his hands. Blue was confused for a second until he saw the pokemon disappearing below the kitchen island, probably to change disguises. A thought flashed through Blue's mind.

"Wait, about the stuffing on the head... Ya now, what gives it shape? How'll you do it? Move the old stuffing thing onto the new one?" Mimikyu chirped back in agreement "Hmm... smart of ya. Been on the field for long enough, I see. Are there more like you, though? Is there a  _Mimi_ in shiny armour waiting for ya somewhere? Or a princess  _Kyu_? Well… I supposed not. You wouldn’t have come along if that was the case…"

He mumbled the last part as Mimikyu got back on the table after a few shuffling, its head finally back in place and his clothing looking much more solidified than before. It only lacked the face. Blue lost no time and drew Pikachu's chubby head back on it, keeping the creepy look. After he was done, he picked the ribbon he had previously used as a temporary fix and tied it back around Mimikyu's disguised neck, making the little beast jump and blabber around in happiness.

"There ya go. Happy?"

Mimikyu cheered and ran back inside the room, Eevee jumping after it. Blue shook his head and got up.

Time to wake Red up, he supposed.

-

Three days flew by, the weather only growing hotter and hotter each passing one. The grandfather clock was chiming midnight when Blue punched the air and howled in victory, another won TCG game to his collection. Red only huffed and crossed his arms, glaring at Blue through long eyelashes and a childish pout.  _Tsk_ , and they called  _Blue_ a sore loser.

"Man, you suck at this. How could you screw up the game with such a great team?"

Red flipped him off, leaning heavily against the wall and crossing his arms over his uncovered torso. Oh yeah, Red had apparently given up on looking decent and began to just walk around the house shirtless.  _It’s what you get for living six years on top of nowhere-land, mister mountain man_ , Blue had told him.

"Bah, you're so fun when ya get  _wasted_. You try to look all mean and annoyed, but not even fairy types weep!"

Mimikyu gazed at him from its spot under the bed, a bag of chips spilling everywhere by its side. Blue waved it off, saying he wasn't referring to it or its amazingly skilful attacks. Mimikyu seemed happy enough and went back to the mess of chips on the ground, eating them all at an awkward angle.

"Anyway," he kept going on "Samson went to Melemele again and said there were leftovers. But let's be real: you wanna eat those? Damn, imagine dinning ice cream. No one can stop us, Red. We're adults now! Let's invade the freezer and make an ice and cookie sandwich with... I don't know, lemonade to follow? Ah-  _Don't give me that look_. It's trendy now to eat alternative food."

_[Does alternative food include dying of food poisoning? Or spending the next few days at the toilet?]_

Blue scrunched up his nose and raised his chin, smashing one palm against his chest.

"It's probably delicious, I tell you! Better than fucking bitter malasadas, anyway."

_[Samson loves malasadas]_

“Well, thankfully he has other types of food around, right? Let’s make hotdogs. I mean, you like hotdogs, right? If you don’t, there’s always hamburgers or… I don’t know, steak? I’m no chef, though.”

The mood in the room seemed to drop as Red shook his head with a sigh. Blue raised a brow, not understanding the sudden uncertainty as Red raised his hands, lowering them right after, as if he had somehow screwed over. His fingers twitched to begin a phrase only to hold back a few times, followed by Red tugging at his hair to get his thoughts straight.

Finally, he seemed to organize his mind.

_[He's your uncle.]_

"Technically, he's my cousin twice removed. But I can't call him that, can I?" Blue said, frowning. Red sighed.

_[Your uncle. Not mine.]_

What came next was something Blue hadn't felt in ages. He and Red were always pretty close as kids, despite their daily arguments and petty fights. Blue knew Red like the palm of his hand, and Red knew him better than anyone else ever did. It was to Red he used to vent off to, it was Red who heard all his embarrassing stories, and it was Red the first one to know Blue had sneaked in the tall grass and managed to catch a Pidgey, when they were both around six. Well, his sister eventually found out and hissed at him to free the beast before he got in trouble, but Red was the one seeing the bird up close right after his first accomplishment.

And Blue? Blue was the one Red trusted in, because he understood the meaning behind Red's words without much explanation.

So when Blue found out he still had the ability to at least comprehend what Red was trying to tell him with only four words, he felt like a little kid again who just caught a wild pokemon and ran off to show it off to his best friend.

_He's nothing to me. He doesn’t have to take me in. I'm probably getting in the way and being a bother._

But his childhood was over, and Red was everything but a best friend after crushing his dreams and then running off to Mount Silver... Or was he? Arceus, what were they now? At first, Blue was really mad to find Red had ran off… But then he grew to miss him, went as far as climbing the damned place to see him, and even after being apart for such a long time, he couldn’t deny he was happy to have the man by his side again. He also couldn’t deny he was sort of taken aback by the sudden insecure confession that came out of Red’s mouth. How could he think that? Everyone loved him. No one saw him as a bother.

However, ever since he left little old Pallet to become a gym leader, Blue himself grew to have a short, buggy filter between his brain and lips. Instead of actually trying to comfort or be a nice person in general, he spat out with a light, joking tone the first thing that came to his head.

"Well I sure hope so, imagine being related to your stupid ass? Arceus, has the heat melted your brain or something?"

Well what a way to be nice and mature, Blue. Red only stared at him, shaking his head and giving him the  _‘you know perfectly well what I meant_ ’ look. Blue gulped, feeling like a total jackass. After all they’d been through, he still couldn’t be a good and honest person. Well, hit him with a thunderbolt.

Thankfully, his old and definitely in need of being replaced PokeNav seemed to have one hell of a timing. It started to vibrate on Blue's bed, making him hastily get it in surprise. His grandfather's flashy smile greeted him as he sat back down, Mimikyu shifting further under the bed as Eevee raised its head from Red's lap. Oh yes, that little princess was a traitor, going to cuddle with the enemy like that for the ninth time in a span of seven days.

"Blue! How's Alola treating you? It’s been a week!"

"Hey gramps. Alola is a freacking hell hole, that's what it is! A Skarmory leaped out of a tree and tried to kill me! Some dude almost arrested me for trying to fly on Pidgeot! And you're allowed to battle inside markets. Who fights inside markets?"

His grandfather gave one huge laugh, a sound Blue hadn't heard in a long time. He shifted on his spot on the floor before Oak recovered himself, shaking his head.

"You haven't met the deities yet, then. They sure love to mess with you... And those Alolan forms? Caught any yet?"

"Nah," Blue shook his head "They’re called Alolan, but I've seen more Pichus and Wingulls than actual regional pokemons. I've got a Salandit, though! And a  _lady_ one at that!"

He chose to omit Mimikyu for the time being. The little one was timid enough as it was. Pulling it away from under its safe space would do no good.

He also felt a little guilty and disappointed in himself when he felt a gush of happiness filling his chest after his grandfather nodded, a somewhat approving smile on his lips. Why was he so dependent on other people’s opinions, anyway? He was pretty sure Red wasn’t like that. Why did Blue have to end up with the worst things?

"I want all the information you have on Salazzle, then... also, is Red there? I have a word for both of you."

Blue looked up and motioned with his head for Red to come closer, feeling that tiny happiness vanishing.  _Of course he wants Red_ \- Blue mentally smacked himself for the millionth time that week.  _Quit acting like a little bitch_ , he thought. Red sighed and did as he was told, putting on a shirt before sitting next to Blue. He let his arm hang on Blue's shoulder, his head falling on top of it as he waved at Oak. Blue gulped as Oak waved back, smiling.

"My son, how are you? Is everything al- is that a  _sunburn_?"

Red only stared at Oak, not bothering to answer the obvious. His grandfather found it hilarious, however; he laughed and laughed, the sound ridiculously loud in the small room, finally stopping after a while to wipe a tear out of his eye.

"Oh, that Alolan sun is a mess, isn't it? And let me guess, you tried to use a healing burn to fix it, didn't you?"

Both Red and Blue looked away, pretending it was nothing of their business.

"Oh, you two are so  _Kantonian_ it hurts. Anyway," They looked back at Oak as he straightened up, his easy going look being replaced by the strict professor one "You two should know the true reason you're here, hm? The Battle Tree won't start on its own. The Alolan Champion should come around in four or three days, but before that, it's advised you go in there to order things up. Get it?"

"Yeah, sure. Gotta show theses Alolans how it's done." Blue said with a cheeky smile.

"And you, Blue, your sister wishes to speak with you. Call her. Venusaur is recovering smoothly, apparently. Still don't know how you managed to let it reach that point."

"Hey, it was an accident. Even Daisy said so-"

"A pokemon doesn't just poison another one without one noticing, Blue. You, as a trainer and gym leader, should know that better than anyone."

Blue bit the inside of his cheek, feeling his blood freeze as he clenched his fists. Something tapped his leg and he briefly looked down, the shape of Mimikyu covered in an empty bag of chips alleviating him a little. He brought one hand to mess with the hems of the thing's little ribbon, staring at his grandfather with a face of utter boredom. He was good at faking emotions, and he would take that in advantage to never give his grandfather the courtesy of looking oh so devastated at something he truly didn’t know what to make of.

"And you, as my  _grandfather_ , should know better than anyone else that I would never let my pokemon drop dead like that. Not anymore."

Red stiffened, raising his head to look at him from the corner of his eyes. Blue ignored him and kept on fiddling with Mimikyu's ribbon, the pokemon leaning closer against him as if trying to comfort him.

His grandfather sighed, muttering something under his breath that sounded more like a whacked apology than anything, before turning to them again. To  _Red_ , more specifically.

"And you, how's civilization treating you?"

Blue found the question rather rude, but Red didn't seem to mind, giving Oak a thumb up. Then they began to chat, which was more one sided than anything, but Blue wasn't paying much attention. He preferred to stay out. His relationship with his grandfather was really becoming one of the worst things he ever experienced, anyway. He really didn’t know if both of them were at fault or not. He also really didn’t care.

The conversation ended, Blue hung up, and the room fell silent.

"Well, gotta call Daisy now." He mumbled, dealing her number. Red tapped his shoulder.

_[Want me to give you privacy?_ ]

Blue smiled at that, shaking his head.

"Nah. Once I asked her if she was alone, since I wanted to tell her... a little something. She said '  _oh yes, baby brother, I'm all alone like always_ '... Turns out she wasn't, and her little friends told the whole town. Hard times here with the  _civilization_." Blue spat out the last word, lowering his voice a little on a shitty impersonation of Samuel Oak’s tone. It made Red chuckle and lightly punch him on the shoulder, but damn it all if Blue wasn’t going to start throwing that word around. Maybe he could turn it into a private joke.

Blue, however, didn't feel inclined to tell Red what the secret he told Daisy was. It was foolish, really; to tell secrets over the phone. But Blue was a teenager living all by himself in Viridian, while Daisy was all the way over Pallet studying the best way to make a beautiful presentation on her coordinating pokemon journey. Also, he just needed to tell  _someone_.

The secret in question was a little crush Blue had. It was sappy and made him cringe whenever he thought of it. It wasn't even his first crush, to begin with! It was just the first one Blue recognized as one. It was also the first time he had come to the mind blowing realization as to who his first little crush was, but he was glad he never told Daisy about that particular detail.

Now one would say: it was just a crush, teen boys have crushes, what's the big deal? Yeah. Kanto wasn't exactly known for its ability to keep things quiet when someone turned out to have a romantic interest on someone of  _the same gender_. It was amazing, really. In less than a few hours, his grandfather was calling to give him 'the talk'. As if Blue needed  _the talk._

Blue should be thankful, though. It was thanks to his sister's gossiping friends he got his first boyfriend. But he was still mildly embarrassed of having his name being defamed for something he couldn't help on all headlines for at least a month. Good thing Red didn’t read pink magazines up in Mount Freeze-you-brain.

As for his first crush, who he really didn't realize he was pining for until much later...

He glanced back at Red and gulped, pressing the call button before his cheeks became the same colour of that volcano back in the Akala Island.

It rang twice before a cheerful face greeted them, her voice drowned by background noise.

"Hey! How are you, Blue- oh, hey Red. Sup?"

Red nodded as Blue flashed out a smirk, Mimikyu crawling on his lap to get a better look at Daisy without her actually seeing it.

"How's it goin', sis? Got the  _poke flu_ yet?"

"Ahah, very funny, Blue. I'm not actually a nurse, remember? I'm just… laying a hand till I learn a tiny bit more about medicine. Since, ya know, being a coordinator has become kinda boring now that Autumn began. No kids, no teens, no nothing. It's so boring."

"You sayin' you want the kids to miss school?"

"No, I'm just sayin’ I wish more adult coordinators would come by. Kanto lacks on the coordinating department so much... The grownups flee the region once they get the chance. Who wouldn't? Between here and Sinnoh... Anyway, I'm sure you two don't really care." She cleared her throat "By the way, I heard there was this beautiful Ninetales there. Could you catch one and send it to me? I can trade."

"What for?" Blue asked. He noticed the theme had sparkled Red's interest, since the man shifted closer and tilted his head slightly. The word cute came to his mind suddenly, and Blue mentally punched himself for that.

"Uh... Haven't decided yet. Free choice, I guess, when ya get back here." Both of them nodded, eyeing each other. It was a challenge, then. A  _Run For The Ninetales_ , if one must "Anyway, about Venusaur..."

Blue sat like a rock, waiting for the strike. It could either be good or bad news, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready for both. Red placed one hand on his leg, the pressure sort of relaxing his nerves. Truly, how could the man be so magical without even noticing?

"It's recovering well. Should send it to you in three days! Though I'm still wondering what pokemon did this. Kanto bugs aren't exactly small, and last time I checked, we have no poisonous fairies - or fairy types, for the matter."

"According to gramps, I did it."

"Really?" She choked out, brows knitting together "The old man still- ugh, leave him be. He's stubborn as hell."

"No shit, Daisy."

“You are too. A simple conversation instead of running away could have solved everything, you know?”

Daisy sighed, wiping one piece of hair away from her face. Someone must have called her, since she suddenly turned her head to the side and shout a 'yes'.

"Ah, there's been a problem on the- I'll call you guys later. Or tomorrow, I dunno, it must be late there. Remember our trade promise?" Both Red and Blue nodded "Okay. See ya!"

"Smell ya later, sis."

She nodded, her face disappearing afterwards as the screen went blank. Mimikyu stumbled back, mesmerized with the device. It poked it once before taking it out of Blue's hand and beginning to fiddle with it, Eevee joining in less than a second.

"Hey there, you two! That's no toy- no, Eevee, you'll call Lance! Don't wanna deal with him and his  _'go open the fucking gym, you lazy ass’_ right now, thanks."

He snapped the device away from them and placed it back on his bag, flashing an apologetic smile at Eevee and patting a rather confused Mimikyu. He then turned to Red, his smile faltering a little. Red stared back, one brow arched as his arms hung motionless. Blue really didn't know if he should feel glad for still understanding his weird gazes or not.

He sighed, scratching the back of his neck before speaking.

"Remember our... argument? Before you went to Mountain Freeze Balls?"

Red clenched his jaw, urging him to continue and not mention the fight they had. Who could blame him? Blue also preferred to pretend it never happened. It was for the best. But Red, as always, asked about what he did not want to hear.

"Yeah. Great old Samuel Oak heard about it. He wasn't happy. Ever since then, our... relationship has been decreasing. His fault, my fault… I don’t know. I just- I don’t know anymore, Red.”

There was much more he wanted to say and couldn't force himself to. Red gave him a smile and sort of patted his shoulder, trying to cheer him up.

_[Is that why you started living in Viridian?]_

He stopped and frowned, asking something else right away.

_[How did you even live there? You were a minor?]_

Blue forced out a chuckle, deciding to answer the questions in order. That way, perhaps he could change the path of the conversation and go back to a nice game of cards with no drama and inconveniences.

"Not fully. Going back and forth whenever I felt like opening the gym sucked my motivation out, ya know? The little arguments here and there helped, but weren't the main reason."

Red nodded, thought for some reason he didn't look fully convinced.

"As for the second question... You sort of automatically get an apartment when you become a gym leader? I dunno, Lance explained it to me before I moved in, but I really wasn't paying attention. Giovanni never really used his, thankfully. The apartment was filled with stuff from another leader before him... and shit, all of it was pink and pastel colours. It felt like a lil’ kid had decorated it. Took me  _weeks_ to pack it all away."

Red laughed at that, his shoulders shaking harder as time went by. Blue didn’t know why, but he began laughing too. Soon, they were both on the floor, a giggling mess and red in the face as their lungs begged for air. Blue gasped, trying to stop and failing miserably as a grin kept plastered on his face.

"W-what’s so funny?" He asked, making Red chuckle again as he tried to hold back his laugh. They were both still lying on the ground, making Red’s words come out a little bit slower. Blue didn’t really mind, propping his elbow up and resting his head on one hand.

_[Nothing. Just imagined you...]_

He stopped, snorting at some weird mental image he had.

_[Just imagined you surrounded by pink stuff everywhere, trying to clean it all away because you're_ “so manly” _, only to find like... lacy crap below the bed. Or inside the pots- I don't know. Sounded funny in my head. Actually, forget it.]_

Blue stared at him for a long while, still grinning.

"That's probably like, the longest line I ever heard you say. And it's about my misery. Shame Red,  _shame_."

Red only faintly smiled, looking up at him through brown strands of soft looking hair. His sunburn was practically gone by now, Red’s pale skin finally visible below the ever-present crimson burn. Blue noticed he was finally getting some colour too, the marks of years of living in the snow slowly drifting away and giving place to a healthier image. His eyes were soft as he looked at Blue, and for a moment he found himself in a haze, staring down at his long lost rival with a fond smile and a sappy look.

He sighed and blinked, throwing himself back on the floor. He didn’t need this right now. He didn’t need his heart doing weird flips on his chest.

He really, really shouldn’t start seeing things were there were none.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, I have a tumblr. It's not that focused on pokemon, but if you wanna drop by, here's the link: http://bi-antagonist.tumblr.com/


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been sitting on my pc waiting to be edited for like... a week or so I believe? But then I bought Watch Dogs 2 and just said "fuck the world". Seriously, the first WD may have been crappy, but this one? It's amazing. It's stealthy, makes you use your hacking devices if you don't wanna get killed, and has amazing characters who I love and adore (read: the whole Dedsec gang - especially Wrench holy crap).  
> Anyway, I'm sure you all don't care about this. Let's get to what matters: this chapter should be called "memories of the past and vague plotting" because woah. It's basically background info which I hadn't written out until now and some starers for next chapter (which will have more action and is already being written out) - since, you know, the major info of this chapter needed to be written out before future ones or else they would end up really confusing. Hope you still enjoy it though.  
> Also, I wanted to thank you all for still keeping up with this little fanfic! It's my first starter into multichapter works, and all the kind words and kudos you guys are leaving are amazing! Thank you so much! And as always, good reading!

Blue woke up in cold sweat and panting, a gasp leaving his throat as he struggled to sit up. He coughed and clenched his shirt, feeling his body trembling each time he took a breath. Eevee immediately jumped on his lap and started to weakly nuzzle his neck, making Blue vaguely smile and pat his little  _pokeprincess'_  back.

He turned his head to the side, seeking the source of comfort who always slept on the bed next to him for the past week, only to find it empty. He frowned, doing a double take.

"R-red?" He cringed at how hoarse his voice sounded.

Nothing.

He lay down, bringing Eevee with him. The little one cuddle against his chest as he stared at Red's bed, wondering where the man had went as he struggled to calm his racing heart. Bathroom? Outside? Mount Hokulani?

Red, Red,  _Red._ Where was  _Red._ He needed Red right now, he needed-

He took a long breath, trying to calm himself. Typical, he was so lame he couldn’t even calm himself without someone else's aid.

His mind was running miles per hour. He couldn’t even remember exactly what he dreamt about. There was a house, a garden, a flash of pain –  _Oh_. His argument with Red before the idiot left him. He cringed when what happened that night so long ago repeated in front of his eyes, a memory he wanted to wipe out of his mind forever appearing uninvited at his door.

It was a hot summer night in Kanto. The whole neighbourhood was over at Red's house, celebrating some new job position his mother got. Typical tradition in old Pallet Town: throwing a party over little things to bring happiness.

He and Daisy had been late, their grandfather scolding them just before they knocked on the door. Said door opened and Red's mother greeted them, kissing Daisy on both cheeks and patting Blue's shoulders. They went in.

The house wasn't full. Pallet wasn't that big anyways. Blue made his way towards the garden, hands clutched on his arms as he scanned every corner for a red cap and russet coloured eyes. Now that he was older, Blue really didn't know what had suddenly possessed his little self at the time, because out of nowhere, younger Blue turned around and yelled for Red.

He went back inside the house, upstairs, and knocked on the door.

The face of pure annoyance and boredom that answered him when he forced the door open only fuelled him even more, to the point he felt he was about to explode.

They eyed each other for long seconds, Blue clenching his fists as time passed and nothing happened. No  _hello,_ no  _how are you_ , no  _nothing._ It was as if Blue meant nothing. As if he was some random kid who came to Red once in a while just to spite him.

"Well ya just gonna stand there?!" He said through clenched teeth. Younger Red tilted his head, his gaze sharpening as he crossed his arms "For real?! Is this the treatment I get? Is this it? Answer me, you big son of a bitch!"

Red said nothing, but out of the corner of his eye, Blue could see Pikachu slowly backing off. Blue ignored it and stared at Red, until he just couldn't anymore.

He marched up to him and punched him straight across the face, the sound echoing through the old bedroom’s walls. Red gave something akin to a shriek, breathing in heavily and looking wide eyed at Blue. Blue was panting, his adrenaline kicking in as he felt his whole body trembling. He raised his hand to punch him again.

However, Red was quicker and, at the time, shorter. He moved out of the way and suddenly Blue felt a sharp twig of pain on his nose, his whole body immediately backing off as his hands clasped his face.

"Motherfucker-"

Red kicked him hard in the leg and ran out of the room, making Blue hiss and follow him. He didn't know what he was doing, or why. He was just... he didn't know. He was so mad. He could feel his heart ache. He didn't understand.

They both stopped just by the tall grass, panting and eyeing each other in pure mistrustfulness and, dare Blue say, hatred. Red bit his lip and looked up, hurt written all over his face as his mind seemed to scream only one word.

_Why._

Blue felt his jaw clench as a sudden need to cry filled him. Why? Red dared to ask him why?!

"I should be the one asking that!" He screamed, making Red flinch back "What's been the fucking deal with you?! No one sees you, no one knows what you're up to, you don't even fucking care about m- about  _anything_  now. What happened?! Did the title get to your head?! Is that it?! Something finally stung past that thick skull of yours?!"

Red gulped, looking down. That only irked Blue more. He screamed out a broken, pathetic " _answer me_ ", his voice quivering. Red looked up and frowned, his face the most open Blue ever remembered it being. His eyes were shinning wetly, as if he was about to cry.

_[I just- I-]_

"Don't  _I just-I-_ me! You didn't even visit me after the championship! Do you think yourself so above me now?!"

That finally seemed to anger the big and feared Champion of Kanto.

_[You didn't visit me either! I'm the champion. I don't see_ _you_ _congratulating_ _me_ _.]_

Red's hands were fast, the words jumbled together, and quite frankly? Blue knew he missed most of the point Red was trying to make. But at the time he really didn't care. He didn't want to.

"You took the title outta my hands! You didn’t-... you didn't even let me-..."

That's when it all went to shit.

Blue felt hot streams of tears coming down his face as he hastily turned around, his pathetic tries to cover his sobs failing miserably. Red tried to walk around him, tried to grab his arms, but Blue only shout even louder and retreated back inside his bubble.

"Don't touch me! Get off! Not you!"

Red didn't give up, he never did. He took a strong hold on Blue's hands and pushed them down, effectively looking at him in the face with... equally puffy eyes and even puffier cheeks.

Only on Red, it looked good. It looked like he was some sort of old, stoic hero revealing his emotions for the first time. It looked... emotional, heart-breaking, and made Blue's heart drop and his breathing grow more erratic.

Blue, on the other hand, looked ridiculous... or, more ridiculous than he already was. He was a trembling mess, his tears were probably marring his face, and he would be lucky if some drool wasn't on the mix too. He was gasping for air once every three words, his body was clenching up, and he truly didn't know how Red still could look at him in such a… in such a… in such a worried way?

"L-leave me-"

Red shook his head.

_[This is your fault. You were the one who shitted on our friendship to become a pokemon master. What does it matter to have a title? No one cares, Blue. No one."]_

Blue now saw deeper meanings on those simple phrases. Younger Blue was oblivious.

"No one cares?" He had said, chuckling darkly "You are Kanto's little precious thing. Youngest champ, strongest trainer, the stoic mysterious dude who makes the hearts of all girls shatter. You are a legend, Red. A motherfucking legend. Everyone praises you. How can you be so blind?"

Red struggled with his next words, having to stop and just breathe every now and then.

_[I don’t care about everyone else. I care about who I love. You’re the blind one.]_

"Oh, am I? Am I?! You have a mother who does everything for you. Do you even know how much she cares?!"

_[You know nothing.]_

"And the village! You could be their collective adoptive son by now."

_[Cut it.]_

"Gym leaders love you, the League loves you, your father sent you a letter just to congratulate you after a decade of silence-"

_[STOP.]_

"I don't even have a father!" He shout, his throat hurting as he stepped forward and placed both hands on Red's shoulders, clutching them as more tears streamed down his face "And apparently, I don't have a grandfather either because he loves you more than he'll ever love me!"

He said it. He still couldn't believe he did.

He remembered basically falling down, leaning heavily on Red for support as the boy helplessly tried to hold him up. Both were shaking and crying, Blue sobbing as Red silently clutched his back, his trembling shoulders the only indication he was actually bawling his eyes out as much as Blue.

"Why didn't you just... why didn't you just wait a little longer, Red?" Blue weakly asked, his voice mumbled by the fabric on Red's shoulder.

Red went still.

"Why didn't... you just had to arrive later, you know? I... I would be his pride. I would finally be... He would praise me, call me his grandson - or even his son. I... Ten minutes. That’s all I asked. Ten minutes, and he would have arrived in time to..."

They stood like that for a long time. Red eventually got up and they went back. His mother was eyeing them with some sort of disappointment, and Blue just knew she had heard them one way or another.

Red left a week later to Mount Silver. Blue was left heartbroken and with a new gym to care for.

Blue blinked and sat up, rising to his feet as soon as he dropped Eevee on the bed. Better find where Red had went, after all. He didn't want to find out he had run off again, leaving him alone with no one else to vent off to. Crap, Blue was really becoming addicted to being around Red, wasn’t he?

He walked into the main hall, stopping abruptly in the kitchen once he heard the door cranking open. Red entered the house, the last droplets of night shining behind him and obscuring his face as he stopped dead on his tracks, hand on the handler. Blue stared at him, his face neutral despite the bubbling thoughts rumbling through his head.

“You got up more than an hour ago.”

Red stepped into the house, leaving the door open.

“Where were you, what happened?”

Red shrugged, trying to pass through him but being successfully blocked by Blue’s arm.

“Red.”

Red stared down at him, eyes seeming to glow in the faint light as he raised one hand and signed _Blue._

“This is not the first time. What’s up? You sick? Can’t sleep- are you having nightmares or something?”

Red only tried to walk past him again, this time lightly shoving him to the side.

“No, no you don’t! Quit running from your problems and just-“

The sound of a bed cranking as Samson got up from his bed made them both stop, take a glance at each other, and run for the open door leading outside. They leaped past it, closed the door and stood on death silence outside, a quietness which was only broken by Blue’s groaning.

“You know what, forget it. I’m tired of bonding moments and stupid arguments under the stars. The sun’s almost up, anyway. Let’s just… go out or something. Buy clothes, a new cap for ya, some bag or fanny pack… Can’t let you go to the Battle Tree dressed like a hobo.

-

Finding a nice clothing store was no problem. The early hours of Friday made the little crumpled place spacy enough for them to move freely, and in no time Blue finally found some new pants to wear during the Battle Tree and survive the suffocating bubble that was Alola (seriously, Blue was beginning to think a damned Moltres - or Entei - had decided to take a vacation on the islands and was now proceeding to make its stay more "comfortable").The only problem was: Blue couldn't decide the colour of his new khaki shorts.

"No, Red, help me. Should I take the green ones-" he raised one of the hangers for the fifth time, as Red kept on staring at him in a deadpan Red way "-or the blue?" He raised the other hanger.

Red huffed and raised both hands, as if saying "I don't know". Blue rolled his eyes and basically shoved the two pairs of shorts on the other man's face.

"Man, you gotta help me out! This is a life or death situation!" Red arched one eyebrow, making Blue pout.

_[Why don't you just take both?]_

"Both?" Blue gasped "Do you know expensive this shit is? I still wanna buy shirts. Can't go around spendin' everything."

_[Well try those on and decide then!]_

"Ugh, fine. Find something for ya then."

Fitting himself on those two pairs of shorts didn't help though. He still had no fucking clue. So he just gave up, drew open the curtain, and stepped out, eyeing both pants with disdain.

"Hey Red, maybe I’ll just throw a coin- where are you? Oh, found ya.  _Heyyy._ Whatchu- are you buying a cap? Without my precious help?"

Red turned around, one white and blue cap on his head as he held two dark ones on his hands. Blue chuckled and came closer, taking the white one out of Red's head and putting it down.

"Not you at all." He said, reaching for a yellow one with two little Pichu ears awkwardly sticking out. He forced it down on Red's head, making him huff and glare down at him behind an oversized children hat. Blue laughed "You look so ridiculous, it's perfect."

Red took the cap out and went back to the large variety, scanning each one with a critical eye. Blue only sighed and leaned back against one shelf, watching as Red decided if he wanted the dotted or striped one, and ended up putting both down. The man then turned towards him, exasperated.

"C'mon man, it's just a cap. Pick one."

Red actually pouted at that, as if saying that no, it wasn't just a cap, it was a part of him. Blue sheepishly looked down and adjusted the collar of his shirt, feeling pity for him. It wasn't exactly his fault he had lost his... what? Eleven year old hat?

"Or maybe not. Here, lemme help."

He stepped forward and shoved his things on Red's arms, grinning as the man staggered back in surprise. Blue turned towards the relatively big choice of hats being displayed and picked the one which looked the most like Red's older one. Red, however, shook his head while raising one hand out of the mess hanging on both of his arms.

Now Blue felt like an asshole for making a mute man unable to speak properly by throwing crap on his hands... Sometimes he just forgot, you know? He forgot Red had had some problem when he was a baby, which left his vocal cords undeveloped. He was so used to understanding his body language and his occasional signing that sometimes it completely shook him how everyone else didn't understand him. He just forgot the man couldn't actually voice his thoughts. He just overlooked it and didn't give it much thought.

Back when they were little children, little were the people who understood Red. There was him, there was this girl named Poppy (who had a crush on Red, and that was probably the only reason she learned sign language), and then there was a loud boy who loved conspiracy theories and whose name Blue didn't remember, and since Red always came up with the best theories the boy had forced himself to learn sign language. Blue also distinctively remembered that one day, one of those agglomerates of kids who think they're cool decided to poke fun at Red's speaking disability... It was the last time they did. Red - who was as thin as a branch at the time, mind you - punched their leader straight across the nose, with no remorse whatsoever.

Red truly was something.

_[Dark.]_

 

_Too dark._ Blue nodded and picked another one, which Red seemed to like more but still not quite love. After a few minutes, Blue finally seemed to pick one Red at least found easy on the eyes: a simple white one with a red cover and a blue symbol on the front.

"Ah, if it weren't for the great Blue Oak, you would be stuck weeping like a Weepinbell for the rest of your life."

Red only shook his head, a smile touching his lips. Blue smiled too, raising his hand and gently placing the cap on Red's head.

Suddenly, it felt too close, too intimate. What was Blue doing, even? He froze on the spot, casting his eyes down as Red stared at him, unreadable. Surely he was invading the man's personal space? The last two days they had become closer, but still... Red wasn't a touchy touch person.

Red looked down and sighed, awkwardly ruffling Blue's hair before stepping back and throwing the green khakis at him. Blue tried not to smile as his face burned followed him to the cashier, wondering what the fuck was wrong with him and since when was he so un-smooth.

.

Two days passed, Sunday came, and there were Red and Blue, just outside the Battle Tree, ready to start the whole thing up and order up the mess that was Alola's  _"more optimism and less realism"_ attitude. Seriously, Blue just wished he had half of Alola's cheerfulness.

After taking the ferry and presenting themselves to the receptionists there, they were quickly taken away to work. It was a slow day, to say the least: Red had stood and watched as his friend did most of the job, Blue already used to dealing with paperwork and finding the whole deal a lot similar to what he did back in Viridian. He found himself more often than not actually telling and asking Red to do stuff for him, and for a long while they were both happy with that dynamic. His old Kanto friend had no idea what to do, and Blue didn't mind to lay a hand and be in control.

After they were done with most of the paperwork though, it became easier and quicker.  _Move boxes over there, unpack potions and bring them back, check the security of the paths, see if none of the components of the pokemon supplements could cause allergies, see if the whole place was anti ghost-type shenanigans_... Funnier work than checking documents and signing papers.

By the time they were done, Red's wristwatch signalled 5pm, the blazing sun making Blue sweat from every pore onto his new shorts and shirt. Red had been smarter, bringing his old ratty clothing instead of his new shirt and decent trousers. They walked side by side, Eevee and Pikachu running ahead of them. Pikachu was also still a little demon - he had more often than not laid on top of the boxes Blue was checking and refused to move till Red gave it one stone cold glare.

"Man, I'm dying. Wanna stop by a cafe? That cheap food did nothing to settle my stomach."

Red nodded, fixing his new cap with a content expression. Blue stretched and put on his sunglasses, a tired sigh escaping his lips.

"Ugh, this was so tiresome. Hope it's worth it. Did ya know that that Wally boy is actually comin' too? He said she wouldn't, but as it turns out the little shit is... The Kalos duo didn't miss the chance either. Cynthia is coming too, I think. Damn, hope we get to battle them! Do you wanna do multi battling?"

Blue turned around, gleaming. The idea, for short seconds, seemed perfect. He had never battled alongside Red. It would be... it would be...

_Amazing. Mind blowing._ Completely  _breath-taking._

Red looked back at him, his face going from shock, to confusion, and later on settling on its typical neutral expression. He nodded, adjusting his new cap again before signing.

_[Is that even fair?]_

Blue laughed, nudging Red's shoulders as he raised his chin and gave him a cocky smile.

"Oh Red, ya can't fight with strong pokemons here. Everyone gotta be at the same level, to make it a question of skill and not power, I guess."

Red raised a brow, making Blue awkwardly cough as his face grew pink.

"I-I mean, that's what I'm told anyways. Back in the gym it's like that- stop giving me that look. Not my fault I have nice philosophies while ya disappear in pika-land."

Red just shook his head, smiling and walking past him. Blue gulped, frowning at the sudden warmness on his left shoulder, as if Red had set him on fire just by brushing shoulders.

-

They were sitting in front of each other, a waitress having just served their drinks. Blue was going for some Alolan cocktail they had over there, a light mix of peach liquor and berries which names Blue couldn't even pronounce. Red, on the other hand, was having a Tapu Cocoa, his eyes lighting up as he took small sips of it.

_Cute._

Blue chugged a whole sip of his drink and cussed inwardly, the alcohol not strong enough to wash away his embarrassment. At least he could blame his red cheeks on it.

"Is it good?" He asked, voice hoarse. Red looked up at him in surprise, nodding and extending his cup. Blue gulped and took it, handing his own to Red and trying the Tapu Cocoa "Hm, it's sweet."

Red nodded and deadpanned as he took a long sip of Blue's drink, almost finishing it. Blue raised a brow, a perfect copy of what Red would do in the same situation. Red only raised one back, putting the glass back on the table and leaning back against his chair.

_[Cold. Slightly acid. It's weird.]_

"Really? Wouldn't have guessed by how much you stole from me."

_[Weird, not bad.]_

Blue shook his head and handed Red his Tapu Cocoa, crossing his arms right after.

"Thief of titles and drinks." He breathed, thankful for the fact Red ignored him with a flip of his hand.

They sat in silence for a while, Pikachu jumping on the table and surprising Blue by lying on his lap, completely exhausted. Red seemed shocked too, gaping before hiding his colourful expression behind his cup. Blue tentatively brought one hand down to pet the little beast's head, but a flickering of electricity on red cheeks warned him enough. Sighing, he chugged down the remaining of his drink, turning to Red afterwards.

"Sooo... you planning on bringing who tomorrow? To the  _BT_." Red stared at him, confused "The Battle Tree, silly!"

Red perked up at that, lowering his still half-filled cup and straightening himself.

_[Pikachu and Blastoise are a must.]_

Blue nodded, urging him to go on.

_[I was thinking about choosing an Alolan one for third option? For the multi battles.]_

Blue's face lightened up, his mind understanding almost immediately what Red was getting at.

"I could bring Mimikyu!" Red nodded "Shit, the lil’ one will shine, I know it! We just gotta improve his -uh- self-esteem a little. And teach him the right moves. Actually, let's wait a week before bringing him, shall we?"

Red nodded, taking one sip of his drink before turning to Blue again.

_[And you?]_

"You gotta ask? Eevee and Pidgeot, along with Bulba. Alakazam never liked crowded spaces, anyway."

And just like that the conversation turned into endless rambling, which lasted till the skies went from bright orange to dark blue.

.

Blue was fucked, that much was clear. The sun was already rising when he came to one mind-blowing conclusion while lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling like a lost man. Red was sound asleep, curled around Pikachu, facing Blue.

Blue saw his life playing backwards when he woke from a peculiar daydream - not a nightmare, not a hallucination, not a freaking normal dream of all things. A  _daydream._ He had woken up to reality with Eevee jumping on his stomach, like the devious and uncaring princess it was, and then he couldn't really fall asleep afterwards. He had turned his face, saw Red's peaceful one for the first time in a long while, and began to remember the past week like some old dude bragging about the old days... Only, it hadn't really been that long ago.

One thing lead to another, and he remembered how easily Red had accept a multi battle with him on the Battle Tree. Red was an individualist, an "one brain is more productive than two" type of person. When they were young, they never teamed up for stuff that required higher levels of skill and intellect. So realizing he and Red, old rivals who clashed together more often than not, would be standing side by side on the battlefield... He felt like screaming and kicking in joy. Of course he didn't say that, Red would poke at him for the rest of their lives.

Also, he still wasn't sure how it would work out. Red was all tactics and sudden rampages of strength, a perfect mix of defence and attack. Blue was more of an all or nothing trainer, sending hard blows with a priority over speed and special attacks. They could either blast it all off to pieces, or be caught up in the blow.

Then he wandered, and that's where it went to shit. He imagined how the battle would be like, how they would win, how everyone would praise him - no, how Red would praise him. Then, before he knew it, his imaginary self was hugging Red tightly, their faces moving in close and-

Blue shook his head and groaned, hiding his heated face between his hands. Red shifted on the bed, making the situation worse. How could he be both beautiful and amazing as hell? No, actually, scratch that. Red was weird. Like, really weird. He still looked like he was trapped in the 90s, he refused to change his pokegear, he was the type of individual who stopped everything he was doing to pet a Houndour, he hated the beach yet loved fishing, he gave you the weird glances and cussed profanities (or at least seemed to do, with how disappointed he got) when you didn't understand him...

All in all, Red was an idiot. But he was the idiot Blue had completely fallen for. He was his idiot.

He groaned again, flopping on his stomach and almost crushing Eevee against the mattress. He smashed his face on the pillow and pulled at his hair, feeling his whole face growing a new shade of pink.

He fell, didn't he? He really did. He had just leaped down another level of stupidity.

He really, really was crushing on his best friend and rival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus, never have I ever missed Blue's original name as much as I had until now. The "Ah, if it weren't for the great Blue Oak, you would be stuck weeping like a Weepinbell for the rest of your life" line would have sounded so much better if it was "Ookido Green" instead, I swear to God.  
> Also, Blue finally woke up to life after like, a week of oblivion how nice of him.  
> Next chapter should come in before Sunday (if everything goes according to plan)! Thank you all again for the support, and sorry for the relatively slow chapter? I mean, important stuff technically happened, but I still feel like this was a real slow one compared to the others...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeey, I said I would post before Sunday, but didn't specify which Sunday ahah- damn, I'm so sorry. It shouldn't have taken so long. And I still got comments to answer to, but it's like... 1am so I'll answer y'all tomorrow, okay? Hope you don't mind...  
>  **IMPORTANT NOTE:** So, last chapter I wrote double battles instead of multi battles, and although it technically isn't wrong since multis are a type of doubles... I changed it. I only wrote double battles because me and my friends call them that (our logic: it has two pokemons? it's a double battle, no matter the number of trainers), so I decided to take it back and correct it. Oh, I also wrote Wartortle instead of Blastoise - that's fixed too.  
>  As for this chapter... I enjoyed writing it a lot. It not only features Sun (and quick reminder that Moon is the champion, not him), but it also has much more action than the last two chapters. I should have also cut it in half, but I didn't want to so... Long chapter for y'all.  
> Also, I can officially say I'll only write about more... 4/5 chapters of this? Without counting with the epilogue? Like, up until now (and including this chapter) I was setting the whole story up, with Venusaur missing, Blue's relationship with his grandfather, I hinted some stuff when it comes to Red, etc... So from next chapter on crap will start to actually go down and happen.  
> But anyway! Hope you enjoy this chapter, and if you do, leave a comment! My Sun will probably not match how each of you view him (since we all played and hc the game differently), but hope you still like him. And as always, good reading!

The Battle Tree wasn't... as exciting as Blue imagined. Venusaur didn't come, Eevee’s fur had gotten all wet after a battle with some random kid just after he arrived at Poni Island, and Moon didn’t battle him. She battled _Red_. 

Big old Red who was now panting as he moved from battle to battle, sweat making his shirt glue to his body as he more often than not blew hair away from his face, the new cap doing nothing to keep it in place. Blue watched from afar, void of any interaction with anyone as he sat on the floor and mindlessly munched on a green apple. Not that there were many people around: Alola was basically death for the first quarter of the morning.

He was so focused on swift arm movements and calculating gazes he didn't even notice a shadow creeping up to him until the sun was successfully blocked from view, a refreshing yet startling coolness making him look up. He was ready to snap at whoever had disrupted his view when his eyes landed on a rather bored young man in grey jogger pants and a plain orange tee. Blue frowned and rose to his feet, looking around for a few second before his eyes landed back on the boy.

"You here? When did ya arrive?"

The boy, Sun, shrugged and crossed his arms.

"My sis and I went in for multi battles, parted along the way. She's chatting with her idol now, and quite frankly? Cynthia doesn't mean that much to me."

Blue couldn't relate to that in the slightest, but he nodded nonetheless and crossed his arms.

"So ya decided to go and speak with the real deal, then?"

Sun raised an eyebrow.

"The real deal is all the way over there." He motioned at Red. Blue gulped, body going rigid and tongue ready to snap a sassy comeback... until Sun grinned and shook his head "Just kidding, man, don't kill me now."

Blue felt himself relax, and he quickly flashed a smile and leaned back against the wooden fence, eyes glancing at Sun’s Z-Ring. 

"You lucky murder isn't my thing,” He chuckled "But why are you here, then?"

"Oh, nothing. Was just thinkin' I would never guess you and mister Red were rivals by how you're analysing his battle style. Shouldn’t you like, know it by heart by now?"

_Shit._ Had he been ogling? He felt his face heating up.

"Hey now, one has to keep friends close, and enemies closer. Ya gotta know their moves before they do! Besides, it's been a while since I _see_ him battle. I'm usually the one doing the fighting, you know?”

Sun shrugged again, looking at the ground.

“Why aren’t you fighting anyone now, then?”

Damn, the kid sure was curious.

“Why do you care? Want to see the amazing _moi_ beating everyone’s asses in style?”

Sun quickly snatched one pokeball from his belt and glared emptily at him. Blue almost stammered and stumbled forward at the suddenness of the act, raising his hands to defend himself from an invisible force as the boy opened his mouth to speak.

"Battle me, then."

"I-uh-yes? Uh, I mean-" he coughed, uncrossing his arms and putting on the best cheeky expression he could at the moment. He probably failed miserably "Of course, kid! If you think you're strong enough, that is!"

Sun smirked, his eyes finally possessing some sort of passion.

"Well, when it comes to strength… I was once told battles are like pockets," Blue raised a brow, bringing one hand down to his belt "You always expect them to be empty, but if you somehow find money inside them, even better, yeah? A loss is guaranteed, but you never win unless you try... or, something like that. I dunno, my mother comes up with weird and contagious theories once in a while."

As the boy suddenly grew flustered in embarrassment, Blue found himself gaping. Sure, the logic was flawed: if you came to, let’s say, a gym and you’re expecting to lose, why even try at all? But the way he said it... it made it seem realistic. It was like...

"It's like asking something from a person," Blue concluded, finally choosing his pokemon. He guessed Eevee should have the pleasure of battling one of the world-wide famous Sun and Moon siblings "You already have a no as a base, but if you don’t ask... you'll never if it's a yes."

Woah. This fifteen year old was opening drawers in places Blue never even imagined his brain had them. It was like facing the first the trainers who went for the Earth Badge all over again.

"I- I guess so?" Sun answered, letting his pokemon out. Psyduck stared confusedly at him, a necklace which prevented him from evolving loosely tied around its neck.

Blue smiled and let out Eevee, absorbed in his thoughts. Perhaps… Perhaps he could just tell Red about the uneasiness he was beginning to feel. Who knew? Maybe the man actually felt the same! And if he didn’t… Well, at least Blue would have a solid know as an answer.

Or maybe Red would be disgusted and never spare a glance at him again. Who knew? Certainly not Blue.

But for now, he had a kid challenging him, and he would never turn his back on someone who came to him with a battle request. Even if their pokemon of choice was a _Psyduck._

Sun smiled, speaking the next words as if he had repeated them over and over again just for show.

"Cloud nine, weather effects disappeared."

-

The battle itself had been interesting, to say the least. Psyduck was stronger than Blue imagined, but not even it proved to be much of a match for how quick Eevee was on its paws. Next, followed a beautiful, delicate Alolan version of Ninetales. It icy blue fur and an aura of complete elegance, and for short seconds Blue really thought Eevee would drop dead for the way its jaw had dropped to the floor. Unfortunately, Eevee was too tired and ended up coming to the pokeball after a particular well aimed ice shard.

However, it all went downhill from there for young trainer Sun. Blue let out Alakazam, hand it ended up not only defeating Ninetales, but a rather irritable Rufflet too. Sun had groaned and crossed his arms in defeat, looking at the floor with pursed lips.

“Hey now, ya just lost. What was that about pockets and battles again? /em> ‘You expect them to be empty, but if they’re not whatever’? ” Blue asked, patting Alakazam’s shoulder before letting it back inside the pokeball. 

“Your Alakazam was strong.” Sun simply answered, looking back at him with a fidgeting gaze. Blue gave him an honest smile and walked up to him, speaking towards the kid the same way he did with all the kids who stepped through his gym doors and whined when they lost: with an encouraging, yet sort of cheeky voice.

“You had a pretty strong Ninetales there, too. You just… Seem to miss all the opportunities to attack, ya know? What’s with that? You’re afraid to order your pokemon or something?”

Sun shrugged.

“Am not. It’s just- ah, forget it. You’re a stranger. And Blue Oak level of stranger at that! Heard you’re quite the asshole when ya want to.”

Blue gaped and raised a hand to his chest in mock offense, pretending to be shocked. _Pink magazines_ , always there to ruin his name.

“Hey now! Not my fault all journalists are jealous of my amazingness!” he grinned, making Sun glare up at him “Besides, easier to speak to a stranger than a close friend, right?”

Sun nodded at that, sighing. Blue wondered what was going on inside the kid’s head. Actually, he didn’t know why he was being so kind to the boy. He just… looked at him and saw all the hopeless people who passed through his gym with empty eyes and inexistent dreams. Sun’s look was the one of a lost trainer, and his battling style proved that not even he knew how he had gotten so far. Blue wanted to know what was going on inside his head, he _needed_ to. 

“It’s just…” Sun began “Sometimes I don’t even know what I’m doing here. I-… I like battling, okay? Battling’s cool. It feels great, lets you hang with pokemon, and brings people together. I would have never met Gladion, Lillie or Hau without it. But…”

Sun stopped. Blue said nothing, waiting for him to continue. An unsettling feeling was making his stomach turn and the familiarity of the situation.

“But… Something’s off, ya know? I didn’t become champion, and now I feel like I’m just following my sister around ‘cause that’s what I’m expect to do- crap, I must sound like an edgy child now. Shit, am I spending too much time with Gladion?” Sun nervously chuckled.

Blue gulped and glanced down at Red, who was still battling some blond hiker. He then turned to Sun again, choosing his next words carefully and trying his best to give an advice without sounding like an uncool know-it-all.

“You guys have trials here instead of gyms, right?” a nod “And you entered those trials. Why?”

When Sun wasn’t able to answer that, looking down instead and beginning to mess with the elastic band of his jogger pants, Blue knew exactly what to say.

“Because you were a teen already and you had no idea what to do with your life, so you followed Moon around and, instead of fighting for your dreams, you tried to take hers. Now you’re tryin’ to convince yourself that’s what you wanna do with your life.”

Sun’s head snapped up, eyes wide as he stared nervously at Blue.

“How do you-“

“And now you feel out of place, because you never wanted this to begin with. Listen up kid, since I don’t last forever: you’ll never be happy by chasing someone else’s goal. That’s why she’s the champion and you’re not – she always wanted to be one, while you decided to follow her ‘cause people expected you to become one. Sun, bro, there are literally a billion other shits for you to do. Hell, if ya wanna leave this place and become a coordinator in Sinnoh, nothing’s stopping you. You wanna go back to Kanto and start a new journey? Go ahead. Ya won’t get stronger and gain a sense of belonging just from the holy grace of Arceus, _you gotta work for it._ ”

Silence fell over them. Blue couldn’t believe he had come up with such a motivational speech for someone he barely knew, yet couldn’t bring himself to say _I miss you_ to those he cared for. And as for Sun? He seemed to be in deep thought, brows knitted together and hands gripping on his shirt. Eventually, he looked up, still frowning but with some sort of realization shivering through him.

“I… I see.” He grumbled out “Thank you, mister Blue. Guess pink magazines are wrong about many things.”

Blue chuckled, patting the boy’s shoulder with a huge grin.

“You get it! I’m just amazing and kind-hearted like that.”

“Actually, I take back what I said. You’re a narcissist!” Sun said, hiding a grin “But yeah, thanks. I… That was a cool speech.”

“Always.” Blue smiled, taking two steps back and looking up “But c’mon, the Battle Tree’s still goin’! Gotta enjoy it while it lasts!”

Sun nodded eagerly and moved to a little staircase by the tree’s trunk, the one leading out of the Battle Tree without interfering with everyone else’s battles. Blue raised a brow at that, but Sun only glanced back at him with a faint smile.

“I need to talk to someone first. See ya around, though! Maybe we’ll meet again before you and mister Red leave!”

“Sure thing, Sun. And hey! Drop the mister from mine and Red’s name. You’re makin’ me feel old as fuck.”

Sun smiled and began to run again, leaving Blue behind with a shake of his head and a new light on his life. It sure felt good to help people once in a while.

-

Blue met back with Red shortly after, his mind incredibly active despite his tired and lumping body.

“ _Bonjour_ , Red! How’s the Battle Tree goin’?” he asked, throwing one arm around Red and leaning heavily on him. Red held his weight, shrugging as he fiddled with one pokeball “Ready to go? I dunno about you, but I’m dying.”

Red chuckled and pushed him aside, making Blue groan as he stumbled back and almost fell over. _Asshole._

_[Tired already?]_

“You wish,” Blue sniggered, crossing his arms. He noticed a lack of yellow fur and frowned, looking around “The little demon’s gone?”

Red tapped at Pikachu’s pokeball with a faint smile. Oh. So the mouse could get tired too. Interesting.

“Peace and love for me, then!” He began to walk down towards the exit path, the same one Sun had left through. 

Red only shook his head, adjusting his cap and stretching. Blue yawned and scratched the back of his neck, falling in confortable silence with Red as they stepped down the stairs.

Every moment they spent together now was both a blessing and source of awkwardness for Blue. It was as if the sudden realization that yes, he was in love with someone way out of his league, had sparkled his fuses and set him ablaze. He also began to take notice of little things which always scrapped his mind but only now seemed to leave mark. Like, for instance, how clingy Red actually was once he got comfortable with someone. Seriously, how was it that only now Blue realized how much Red touched him, either to get his attention or just for the sake of having himself invading Blue’s personal space.

It set his heart on fire.

Thankfully, the man was too tired and sweaty to actually want to even remotely touch him, which was both good and awful at the same time.

"Wanna eat and flunk, or come back here?"

Red shook his head.

"No to what?" 

Red raised one finger, meaning he didn't appreciate the first option. Good. Blue was also feeling pretty tired himself, but damn it all if he still didn’t want to battle everyone who stood on his way up the Tree.

“Let’s go eat then.”

.

Blue dropped himself on the wooden sidewalk, half sitting on its border as his eyes lazily looked ahead. The tide was strong today, waves clashing against the sand as only surfers dared to stay on the water. The climate was still suffocating, but Blue found himself getting used to it. Out of curiosity, he looked under his shirt and saw thin line of bronze marking his skin, a light tan on both his arms and face. Now that he thought about it, he really should start dragging Red's pale ass to the beach. The man may not tan, but fuck it all if Blue would get a fisherman colouring for wearing shorts and shirts the whole month.

Red was currently on the Pokemon Centre, healing both his and Blue's pokemons. Blue had asked if he didn't want company, but Red had just shake his head and told him to go and find them food. Blue had done just that - he found a nice tavern that served cold soup and cheap plates a little bit to the west. Now he was dying on the sidewalk, begging Solgaleo to stop being such a bitch and let Alola have a cool day.

He was pondering between just throwing himself in the furious waters or getting up to find Red when his PokeNav rang. He frowned and answered it, Daisy's rigid face pulling him up in record time.

"Sis-"

"Is he with you?"

He? Was she talking about Red?

"No? Why?" Blue asked a little bit too defensively. If Daisy noticed, she ignored it.

"Good. Blue, this is important- it's about Venusaur."

His skin went cold despite the warm air and blinding sun. His brain stopped altogether as he stared blankly at the PokeNav, his nerves on high alert despite the sudden numbness that overtook him. No, she couldn't possibly mean... no. Venusaur was well, Venusaur was more than well! His Bulba wouldn't... 

He wanted to bend over and empty his twisting stomach.

"What about him."

Daisy frowned harder at him before something flashed on her eyes and she raised both hands, eyes wide.

"No, no! It's not like that- Venusaur is fine, Blue! It takes more than a little poison to bring that huge baby down. It's related to it, not about it!"

Blue let out a long sigh in relief and groaned out his sister's name, cursing her as a huge pressure was lifted from his shoulders.

"Fucking hell, Daisy! Don't pull that shit on me!"

"Hey, watch your fucking tongue young man."

"Watch my tongue my ass-"

"Okay, Blue, this is serious."

Blue bit the inside of his cheek and took a glance around, nodding at the low movement the streets currently had.

"Spit it."

"Venusaur will stay a little longer - it accidentally cut part of its flower while acting as a mother hen to some little Bulbasaur we have here-"

"How did that happen?"

"Long story short: don't trust little flowerings with anything remotely sharp. Anyway. Remember how I said this wasn't your fault?"

"If by this you mean Venusaur almost dying, then yeah?" Blue frowned, leaning against a wood pillar and rubbing his face with one hand. He really didn't want to go over this again.

"Well, I just had the confirmation! Venusaur was just the first. Misty's Psyduck entered Cerulean's Center in awful conditions too, and Brock's Geodude got stuck under a pool for two minutes. It couldn't even breathe, and when it got out… Let’s just say finding out your potions are damaged while trying to heal a pokemon probably isn’t a good experience."

" _Woah, woah, woah!_ What?!" Blue took two step forwards and pulled at his hair, eyes wide "Daisy, what are you telling me exactly?!"

"I'm saying: someone's been poisoning local leader's pokemons. Not a pokemon, a _person_. Think about it! You took a ten minutes break, went outside, left Venusaur for like... five minutes, since the other five it was with you, and suddenly you come back and it appears fine although it's slowly dying? This is a human act, a human poison. Someone's targeting you and all other gym leaders for some fucked up reason."

He felt the world tightening around him, his body incredibly still despite his shaky mind. Someone had poisoned his Bulba? Someone had made him go through the pain and tears of running into a Pokemon Centre, Venusaur almost death as its leaves turned into a dark purple tone, while begging at every nurse he saw to just keep it alive? Someone had caused all of this? Someone had made him lose all faith as a trainer and finally cut ties with his grandfather?

"How do you know this?" He managed to breathe out, even though he wanted to scream murder and fly himself back to Kanto just to punch the living soul out of that motherfucker.

"I talked with Misty today... we went to Officer Jenny. Shit, Blue... What if they're back?" Daisy asked, voice weak as she leaned heavily against the table.

_They._ Team Rocket. The most annoying people Blue ever met.

"Giovanni’s still gone."

"One doesn't need Giovanni to bring back his legacy."

Blue nodded. He looked down the street and saw Red leaving the Pokemon Center, a bag with pokeballs between his arms. He gulped.

"Fine. Get more info then, we’ll wipe this clean- Uh, fuck… I- Okay, Daisy, okay…"

"Blue?"

"Okay. Just... Shit Daisy, that's a lot to take in. Just- call me when Bulba's better or when you have more details."

"I know, sorry. I didn't want to ruin your vacation with mister hotstuff there, but this was important."

"Yeah- wait, what?" Blue glared at her before looking back at Red, who was making his way towards him, Pikachu running by his side. Daisy grinned.

"What? It's true.... Oh, and Blue? Please, don't spread the word. With anyone."

"Yeah, sure."

"No, _anyone_. Red included. Especially Red."

Blue frowned, slightly guilty. He did plan on telling Red.

"Why?"

Daisy gaped at him, brows knitting together and eyes thin. Blue felt like he was a stupid little kid again, not understanding the obvious. _And Red would be within earshot soon._

"Are you stupid? The boy already has enough traumas with Giovanni as it is. Knowing Team Rocket is back would destroy him - and we don’t even know if it's truly them!"

"Trauma, what-?"

"Ugh, did you pay attention to- look, don't tell him. Not knowing is better than doing when it comes to him."

"Fine, fine... Smell ya later, sis." He said, mind running miles per hour. Red stopped in front of him.

"See ya... give an hi to Red for me." 

“Sure.” He hung up, not even sure what to make of this whole conversation.

Red stared at him, unmoving. Blue sighed and forced a smile. How was he going to keep this away from him?

"Just Daisy. Bulba got a cut on the flower thingy, ain't comin' for a while..."

Red patted his shoulder and gave him an apologetic smile, making Blue flush and step back.

"It’s fine, pal, it’s fine… Let's go, yeah? There's this awesome cheap place nearby. Do ya like cold soup?"

Needless to say, the rest of the day was plagued with images of some random outlaw screwing over Kanto under an unknown, sadistic pretence.

And Blue couldn’t even tell Red about it.

.

The previous day had been bearable. He was either focused on his opponents at the Battle Tree, or absorbed in deep thinking about ascending thugs in Kanto. But now? Now he had convinced Red to spend the day at the beach with him, and the man had said yes. There were no kids to distract him, no wild pokemons, no Alolans, no nothing. It was a cosy, empty beach where he was forced to look and interact with his crush while laying eyes upon his half naked body and small smiles-oh, _the smiles_. They were torturous little things. Blue felt himself melting and turning into a pile of mush whenever Red's lips curled upwards in his direction, and fuck it if that wasn't an annoying and embarrassing as hell fact.

Before he found out he loved him it was cool. Sure, he felt weird inside whenever he was close to him, but he didn't understand why. Now? Now he couldn’t help but notice every single detail on the other man, from his constantly chapped lips to his beautiful downturned brownish eyes and snub nose; to the way his hair would never stay down on the sides unless soaked and dripping; the fact that now he was broader and had just those few inches of advantage against Blue that left him with mixed feelings every time he had to slightly raise his chin to speak to him; the way a faint pink would appear on his ears, cheeks, neck, every time Blue said something nice for a change. Every time Blue complimented him and not his skills.

It was torture.

And Red didn’t even know, walking by his side with some white swimming trunks and an _‘I love Johto_ ’ tourist shirt on, alien to the bubbling feelings on Blue’s chest. Actually, Red was brooding the whole way, the beach bag crumpled between his arms as Pikachu glared at Blue from its spot on his shoulder. It was just supposed to be a pastime, a way for Blue to take his mind off Daisy’s words without bringing the other man to an overpopulated place. But Red apparently despised anything that had to do with sand and salty water. 

"I didn't force you to come!"

Red only shrugged, staring ahead.

"C'mon, it's just a lil’ bit of sand and salt. It won't bite... too much, at least."

Red glared at him and stomped forward, Pikachu jumping from his shoulder and beginning to chase Eevee down the beach. He pursed his lips and let Lapras out, the water turtle looking around and huffing as it marched to the sea. Red hesitated before throwing the next two balls, Blastoise and his male Salandit coming out and immediately and, rather lazily, beginning to walk towards Eevee and Pikachu. The last one to come out was Snorlax, and Blue briefly wondered if Red hadn’t brought a sixth pokemon with him.

He must have been giving him a funny look, because soon enough Red was tilting his head at him with a concerned expression.

"Free roaming day, uh? Can live with that. Where's your sixth, though?"

_[I caught a Cubone... Cubone is still getting used to large groups, not ready yet.]_

Blue didn't inquire more, humming as he let out Pidgeot, Alakazam, Exeggutor and Arcanine. He stopped the latter with his hand, throwing one last pokeball up and smiling as Mimikyu appeared and immediately hid behind him. He crouched and pushed it forward, urging with his eyes for Arcanine to take care of the little fairy-ghost type while he was off doing whatever.

"C'mon little one, you’ve met big girl already, yes? She'll take care of ya. Go on, have fun! Shake Red's lame pokemons to the ground!"

Mimikyu shyly stepped forward, following Arcanine down the beach and sporadically looking back at Blue for psychological security. Blue waved, eventually turning back towards Red who was now giving him a funny look with a towel half spread on the sand, half hanging between his hands. Blue took one step forward.

"What?"

Red shook his head, properly laying down the beach towel.

"Reeed! What is it?"

Red sighed and straightened himself, dusting off his hands off on his shirt.

_[You changed. You're… different.]_

"Different as in bad different, or...?"

Blue was static now, taking in every word. He changed? Well, he knew he wasn't as bratty, but why the sudden realization? Did Red like him more now? Did he not? Did Red hate the old Blue? He really wanted to know. 

However, Red only gave off a half smile and vaguely answered "different", turning Blue’s brain into mush for never knowing what Red truly meant.

“Ugh, you’re impossible!” Blue groaned, taking off his shirt and kicking out his flip-flops. He left them by the towel and looked back at the sea, motioning for Red to follow him.

_[Not as impossible as you.]_

Blue rolled his eyes.

“Ah, you clearly don’t know yourself that well then,” They reached the water, Blue checking the temperature before keeping on walking forward “But if it consoles you, you’re different too. More annoying, for instance.”

They were walking side by side now, Blue dragging his feet through the water and looking at the rhythmic come and go of the waves. Inside his head, a devious little plan to get Red into the water was beginning to bubble, and he hid a grin behind his hand as he looked back at Red. The man in question wasn’t even paying much attention to him, looking at his pokemons instead as they either basked in the sun or ran around like crazy. He was still wearing the damned shirt too.

“Hey, how long as it been since ya stepped a foot inside the ocean?”

Red shrugged.

“You’re lucky I’m an amazing friend then, Red!” Red stopped at that, making Blue do so too. He stared down at him with a frown, making Blue’s grin turn into a smirk as he stepped forward “A truly amazing friend. Imagine letting you go on without the natural wonders of the world, hm?”

Red’s eyes widened in realization, but it was too late. Blue grabbed him by the waist and, possessed by a sudden strength not even he knew where it came from, pushed him into the water. Red staggered back and fell, crashing into the waves as Blue laughed his ass off by the wet sand. The man glared at him and got up, shirt dripping everywhere and his cap floating somewhere off to the right. He went to grab it, stomping all the way but looking everything but menacing as the water restricted his moves. Blue followed him, snickering.

“Man, ya should have seen your face! You were like-“ he gesticulated wildly with his hands and broke down laughing again. Red flipped him off, but Blue got a feeling he really wasn’t mad at him… Was he? Fuck, what If he had gone too far? “C’mon Red, we’re in Alola! We gotta have fun!”

Red stared at the beach and whistled, Lapras raising its head before eagerly nodding and going into the water. It swum past them and stopped a few feet ahead, making Blue frown as Red marched towards it. Blue followed, hissing as the cold water passed his crotch and reached his torso. It was too cold.

“Hey, Red. You don’t wanna drown me now, do you?”

Red’s feet still touched the sand as Blue winced and gave up on walking on his tip toes, dropping himself on the water and swimming to catch up. Red stopped in front of Lapras and climbed on top of it, sitting crossed legged and gazing down at Blue in pure neutrality. Blue glared back, placing one hand on Lapras’ shell.

“Man, you gotta learn how to take a joke. You’re getting pissy for nothing.”

Red rolled his eyes and awkwardly took off his wet t-shirt, placing it behind him. He rested his head on one hand and Blue forced his eyes up to meet his. They stood like that for a long time until Blue himself broke the eye contact, looking at Red’s wrist band instead.

“I mean, you’re not actually mad, are you?”

Shit, Blue hoped he wasn’t.

But then Red smirked, Blue frowned, and a déjà vu replayed in front of him as he realized what was coming. Red tapped Lapras’ shell, and a low burst of water sent Blue twirling a few feet down the water, light blue covering his vision as he struggled to keep stable. _That motherfucker._ He would show him who was smoother.

He didn’t swim up. He held in his breath and waited. Misty and he had spent countless summers in the pool. He knew how to hold in for long enough.

Thankfully, it didn’t take more than a few seconds for Red to drop himself from Lapras and check on him. It felt nice to know the man was worried enough to go looking for him… Well, it’s not like Blue supposed Red would leave him there to die if he were actually drowning, but he also wasn’t expecting Red to come to his hypothetical rescue in like, ten seconds.

No time for that underwater though. Blue swum up and hastily pulled Red’s shorts down, making the man jump and swim away. Blue emerged with a choked laugh, receiving a softer glare from Red.

“Gotcha again!”

Red splashed him and went back, hiding a grin as he pushed himself up Lapras and sat there, panting and dripping water everywhere. Blue smiled and moved closer to him, poking at his arm.

“Now wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Red huffed. Blue shook his head.

“What? Is the big and feared champion of Kanto afraid of the calm sea in the middle of summer?” he joked, making Red grab his wet shirt from behind him and smack Blue’s arm with it “Ouch! Asshole, that hurt!”

Red ignored him and adjusted himself on his pokemon’s shell, looking back at the beach like a mother hen checking on her children. The _children_ must have been okay, because Red quickly looked back towards Blue with some sort of eagerness Blue wasn’t sure he liked.

_[Idiot. Also, there’s a cave over there.]_

Red pointed forward and Blue followed his hand, eyes laying on a small rocky structure flooded with water, a little further from where they were. Blue wasn’t even sure if that could be called a cave to begin with, but oh boy did he have a bad feeling.

“You don’t wanna go over there, do you?”

Red only kept on staring at him, his hair flat against his face and dripping small droplets of water over his cheeks instead of standing up in puffs. He looked determined as hell too.

“Red! We can like, die!”

_[We’ll go when the water’s down.]_

“And then it goes back up and we’re doomed, ‘cause you always want more and will stay in there for hours till you find that little plus.”

Red averted his gaze, making Blue smugly smile in victory. Red looked right back at him again though, no less determined.

“Red, no. I have fans to meet here, ya know? Celebrity life is hard. Can’t let them down.”

Red’s stare turned into a glare.

“I also have a family back in Kanto. Imagine me leaving Daisy all by herself!”

Red didn’t bulge.

“And the gym! Imagine my ghost being hunted down by Lance, since _‘oh for fucksake Blue, you had ONE mission-_ “

Red’s stare was really getting on his nerves now. Blue groaned and flopped down on the water, already regretting his decision when Red grinned.

“One hour, and we’re gone.” Red raised a brow “Fine, two- no, not today, yesterday left me tired as fuck and we still gotta train for the multi battles.”

Red finally nodded, pleased with himself. What he was so curious about was a mystery to Blue, and Blue was pretty sure this “cave” would include suspicious shades of dark and dust plus a flashing collection of ghost and rock pokemons he neither had the patience or stomach to deal with.

-

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed. They had went back to the sand after a while, Blue had snatched a few Pokemon Cards out of his bag for him and Red to play with, and eventually they ended up calling Mimikyu and Cubone for a short training session – to prepare for the multi battles.

Or, at least, that’s how Blue thinks he ended up standing below the sunset while loudly calling orders back and front as Mimikyu clumsily tried to keep up, twisting here and there and jumping from side to side. Cubone wasn’t in much better shape either, although it was pretty good defending Mimikyu’s quick attacks. Red also appeared to already have worked with it before, since the little one could already tell which moves it had to do based on Red’s movements. 

Blue also noticed for the first time how much Red and his team and grown, since now his pokemons barely looked back during battle, standing off a little to the side instead to maintain eye contact and knowing Red’s orders before he even gave them. Cubone, on the other hand, wasn’t anything like that: it looked back every time Red so much as blinked, the man still had to do expressive gestures instead of simply nodding his head or raising one hand for it to fully grasp what it had to do, and it was a blessing Cubone was good at evading or else it would have a hard time catching on when Red told it to do so.

“C’mon, to the left- yes, _shadow sneak_ now!”

Mimikyu did just that, but Cubone was quicker. It flung his bone and hit Mimiky straight across the chest, making it tumble down.

“Don’t give up now!”

Mimikyu got up, retreating a little and looking around. Both Red and Blue had called back most of their pokemons to train the newbies, only Eevee and Pikachu standing outside along with Arcanine – who apparently was Mimikyu’s new borrowed mom now – and Snorlax. Blue noticed a pattern: Mimikyu would attack, get beaten, and then look back at either Eevee or Arcanine for confidence. If it managed to avoid the attack or land a good one, it would look at Pikachu. 

“Wait before attacking. Also, I heard you could mimic moves?” Blue whispered. Mimikyu looked up and nodded eagerly, the rag head bouncing. It was a deal then.

Blue looked up just in time to see Cubone run up to them, throwing its bone forward at top speed. _Bonemerang._ How the fuck was Mimikyu supposed to copy that?

“Lay low!”

Too late. Mimikyu managed to escape the first swipe, but when the bone came back it collided straight with the pokemon’s rag head. It dropped to the side, the ribbon awkwardly keeping it up as Mimikyu struggled to catch its balance. Blue looked across the battlefield at Red with a scoff.

“Your daughter destroyed my son’s clothing!”

Red shrugged, adjusting his cap. Blue flung his arms up in distress.

“And you, how’re you gonna mimic that? You don’t have anything to throw.”

Mimikyu seemed to puff up and glare back at him with a proud ‘watch and learn’. Blue rested one hand on his hip and did just that, analysing the situation. 

Mimikyu ran up to Cubone, who staggered back and raised its bone to block some sort of attack. Mimikyu lost no time and brought one claw up, snatching the thing out of Cubone’s hands and swinging. Cubone was too perplexed to react and ate its own attack, falling flat on its butt and looking up at Red in utter confusion. Red too was surprised, giving a thumbs up to Mimikyu before going to Cubone, crouching and patting its head. Mimikyu looked back at Blue and trotted towards him, stopping half way through to look at the three other pokemons. Pikachu and Arcanine cheered for it as Eevee lazily raised its head in acknowledgement. 

“Good one, ghost fairy!” he picked Mimikyu up “That was awesome!”

The pokemon chirped back a sound. Blue grinned and turned to Red.

"Give them a week and you'll see! They'll wreck that tree!" 

Red shook his head, Pikachu crawling on his shoulder. Blue raised a brow and cocked his hip, Mimikyu's claw reaching up to fix its disguise.

"What?"

_[They aren't ready. Mimikyu is too dependent on flattering and praise, and Cubone is still learning.]_

"Hey, Mimi's fine. Has _to learn_ too." Blue said rather defensively, clutching the pokemon to his chest. Red looked up at him, frowning and looking weird without his cap on "Don’t give me that look."

_[It's true. You can't force Mimikyu in battle before he's ready.]_

Blue clenched his teeth, the pokemon in question beginning to fidget between his arms. Blue hastily placed Mimikyu on the sand, and Mimikyu whined and ran to Arcanine, as if feeling his bad humour.

"Give him a week. Besides, Cubone wasn't much better. You don't suppose you'll bring it to the Battle Tree while it can't even process your way of battling."

The words only reached his ears after he said them.

_Shit._ That had been low. He didn't mean it like that, not at all!

Red stared up at him, eyes wide and his whole body freezing up and shit. He looked so hurt and betrayed. Blue broke eye contact and Red got up, moving up the beach and towards their abandoned towel. 

"Red, c'mon!"

Mimikyu was looking between them in confusion, Cubone was running besides Red as he tried to shush it, both Arcanine and Eevee were giving Blue the murder eyes. He felt like crap. But damn, it had just came out! He couldn't help it! He didn't even know where that came from!

He ran after Red, the sand cold between his feet and the cool air of dusk hitting his back. He called after him but to no use. The other was grabbing his shirt and putting it back on, back towards him. Blue stopped behind him and awkwardly dressed up to, shifting nervously from side to side instead of actually speaking up.

Miraculously, it was Red who made the first move. He turned around, cap low on his head, and slowly signed his words.

_[I meant to say neither are good to go, not that Mimikyu was worse.]_

Blue lowered his head and nodded, swallowing a lump down his throat. He felt his jaw clench up and tried his best to ignore the dread feeling spreading through his body and setting him on edge.

"Don’t try to apologize… What I said was shitty as fuck..."

Red didn't smile, he just nodded. Blue felt very small.

"I'm... really sorry, Red. I- fuck man, I'm not gonna give a talk about _'oh, I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it must be for you to train your pokemon, given your condition'_!" He made sure to say that in a high pitch tone and Red actually hid a smile. Blue wondered how many times Red had wanted to punch someone for saying that "You're you, and to be quite honest? Your training is awesome and cool as hell. Most people don't even see it coming! I... I didn't even think about that when I said it- I was talking about- Fuck dude, I wasn't talking about you having to teach pokemons another way, I was just being stupid and defending mine by insulting yours."

Red's head was still low, his fingers clutching his shirt. Blue just knew Red wasn’t having none of his excuses for having said what he said, and that turned him into a nervous train wreck. And when Blue turned into a nervous train wreck, he often said stuff he would regret.

"Just... don't stay mad at me. Please."

Like that lame one, for instance. Blue forgot all about slapping himself and went straight for the thought of sweetly drowning his stupidity in the open ocean behind them. He looked down, going red from his ears to his shoulders in embarrassment, and was quick to wave both hands in front of him with fury.

“Since, ya know, being stuck with someone for three other weeks while being mad at them is completely awful and-“ 

Red gave him a pointed look. He was tired of his bullshit, Blue could tell… And who wouldn’t? Blue breathed in, scratching the back of his neck, and finally decided to man up and do something productive for once in his life. He owned that to Red after all the crap he had done to him: not just now (thank Arceus he was a better man now), but before as well. With one last bite at his bottom lip, he gave in and sucked up his pride. Just one word. He just needed to say that word again without explaining himself like crazy.

“I’m… Sorry. I’m fucking sorry, okay?”

Red finally smiled. Blue felt himself burning, and he shifted from one foot to the other, thinking about how nice it would be to dig a hole in the inviting sand and just disappear- oh, Red was ruffling his hair now and stepping back with a shake of his head, before turning back and walking up the beach. Cool, Red, cool. 

Blue's heart was definitely both too gay and too tired for this. And it _definitely_ didn’t get any better when Red placed one arm around his shoulders and pointed towards some tourist kart filled with useless tourism garbage, letting it hang there till night fell over them.

-

Not even two hours later, everything was basically forgotten. Between eating at a Pokemon Center, calling Samson to tell him that _yes, they were fine, no they wouldn’t be home before ten _, and actually stepping a foot inside home, they were already slipping back in pointless arguments and stupid jokes – Blue did most of this as Red walked by his side, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. It was like the old times, only better.__

__-_ _

__He was a little dazed when he woke up. The curtains were softly waving against an open window as the sun began to rise, illuminating the small room as Blue’s eyes tried to focus on what was happening around him. Eevee was sleeping by his feet, sprawled out as Mimikyu curled against its fluffy tail. Red’s bed, as usual, was empty and unmade. There was a faint pounding playing in the background and Blue scrunched his nose with a groan as he threw a hand over his eyes, his body a cosy warm temperature instead of boiling hot like usual._ _

__And the weirdest? He felt lightheaded. For the first time in a long while, he had dreamt of nothing. No nightmares, no stupid dreams, no undisclosed desires making themselves known to him, no nothing. It was really strange, taking into account he had discovered Team Rocket (or a copycat of them) was back. He decided to ignore that information for the moment and let himself enjoy a peaceful and calm moment of silence, focusing instead on the chirp of pikipeks and the low beating coming from outside._ _

__That didn’t last long though. He had managed not to think about it the previous day, but now? Daisy’s voice was loud on his head. He remembered the whole conversation in meticulous detail, from the way her voice quivered to the fact she had asked him specifically not to tell Red._ _

__Red. Why shouldn’t Red know? The man had taken down the mafia and fought Giovanni till the man quitted and dismissed Team Rocket. Never once did Blue notice anything wrong with him during those times (not that he paid much attention back then, he was too power hungry and reckless to care). Would Red feel like all his work had been for nothing? Would he regret having disappeared to Mount Silver? What was Daisy even on about?_ _

__He sighed and sat up, scratching his face. If Red couldn’t know, he wouldn’t… No matter how hard it was to keep his mouth shut._ _

__Trying to take his mind off it, Blue got up and put on his flip-flops, dragging his feet across the house to reach the living room’s window. He peeked outside, trying to locate the source of the insistent and irregular pounding, and had to make a double take when he found it. He frowned and leaned harder on the windowsill, eyes struggling to focus on the shapes covered in dark blue shadows as the sun made its way past the trees surrounding the area._ _

__Red. Of course it was Red, when wasn’t Red involved in every aspect of Blue’s life. Right now, the man was at the back of the house, facing a medium sized tree with a small Cubone by his side. They were apparently training, Red flipping his wrist up and following the motion in diagonal with his arm as an order for Cubone to throw his bone weapon. _Bonemerang_. The sound Blue was hearing ever since he woke up was the weapon hitting the tree multiple times, a loud slap of wood against bone. _ _

__Blue stood very still and watched as Red repeated the movement, Cubone throwing the bone one more time and watching as it made an oval around the tree, returning safely to its hand. Red crouched and patted Cubone’s head, the pokemon gurgling out a sound in appreciation and lightly pawning Red’s._ _

__Red rose to his feet afterwards, signing something Blue couldn’t comprehend. He repeated the hand flip as he drew his arm diagonally, the movement followed by Red raising both hands as if saying _stop_. Then he lowered his arms and made the same flip of his wrist, this time only slightly moving his arm. A discrete move Blue didn’t understand. Then he repeated everything again for Cubone, copying the last sign at least three times before the pokemon nodded-_ _

___Oh_. It wasn’t sign language. Red was teaching Cubone each and every single move the creature would need during battle. Blue felt a weird twist on his heart as he kept on spying, mind suddenly alert and curious as his eyes took in every detail. He never saw the process behind Red’s awesome team battle dynamic. He had no idea how Red taught his pokemons to follow his orders. He always assumed the little monsters could telepathically understand what Red was telling them. Apparently, that was not the case._ _

__With this new insight, Blue nodded to himself as he realized Red was slowly transiting between exaggerate hand and arm movements to softer, smaller ones. Cubone was apparently having a hard time memorizing those, as if it couldn’t process what was happening around it that easily. But Red was everything but impatient, repeating it again and again until Cubone finally memorized it. Blue also noticed the pokemon was beginning to understand it had to stay a little bit off to the right to have line of vision towards Red’s hands._ _

__After a few more throws and bonemerangs, Red nodded to himself and turned his head, whistling. Blue almost shrieked in surprised as a Salandit jumped out of a bush, looking around with small eyes and a mischievous smirk. He composed himself as Red walked towards it, clapping his hands between small signs Blue could only imagine the meaning of._ _

__Salandit went to the other side of the field, standing just in front of the three and hissing. Cubone marched forwards, puffing up its chest. Red clapped his hands once. Salandit crawled forward and raised one claw, and Red must have made something because suddenly Cubone was blocking the attack and swinging its bone wildly, hitting Salandit across the face. Red clapped his hands once again, and Salandit opened its mouth in ember, tail moving wildly. Cubone shout and jumped out of the way, the fire only catching its hand. Red did that flip of his wrist and Cubone stared in confusion until it clicked, and there it was, throwing the bone again. Red clapped his hands one more time, and Salandit used ember once more, failing miserably as the bone hit its head and successfully blocked the attack._ _

__Blue stood deep in thought as Pikachu appeared out of nowhere just to nag at Salandit. How was Red telling Salandit what to do? Had he taught it a move sequence just before this little training battle? Was that what all the clapping and signing was about? That was the only possible solution, there was no other way. It required a lot of deep thinking and creativity to come up with such thing… Red truly was something. He was just so cool._ _

__Blue must have made some noise because suddenly Red, Pikachu and Salandit were turning their heads towards him, eyes narrowing in suspicion. Blue eloquently let out a “hmmm”, avoiding eye contact and pretending he had just now arrived. Red wasn’t buying it. For shot seconds, Blue really thought the man was about to snap at him… That is, until he snapped his fingers instead and a bone was shoot straight out of Cubone’s hand towards Salandit’s chest, hitting it full on and making the pokemon tumble down, clutching its stomach in pain._ _

__“Shit-“_ _

__Red didn’t seem much bothered, crossing his arms and signalling with his head for Blue to meet him while Pikachu argued with Salandit like an angry grandma. Blue swallowed down his pride and resumed to get out of the house in nothing but a white shirt and Cleffa printed underwear, hoping no paparazzi was waiting just for the right moment to take an embarrassing picture of him._ _

__“So this is how you train them, uh?”_ _

__Red nodded, eyes glued on the three other pokemons as they all began to argue with each other. It wasn’t anything serious, just the type of stuff you expect from a team of newbies who still have to learn how to interact with each other. Pikachu was being an arrogant prick and gesturing wildly at Salandit, who was pouting and glaring at twitchy Cubone._ _

___[Salandit has to learn how to keep focused. Cubone has a harder time grasping words and their meanings.]_ _ _

__“So it’s not just because of the signing?” Red shook his head “If, let’s say, I talked to Cubone… Cubone wouldn’t understand much, right?”_ _

__Red nodded, finally meeting Blue’s eyes. He was a mess. He had bags under his eyes, his hair was in complete disarray, and he was still wearing yesterday’s shirt with a pair of baggy sports shorts. His skin was pink and sweating up from whatever exercise he had been doing before Blue arrived, and Blue wondered just how long the man had been up doing Arceus knows what as Blue peacefully slept._ _

___[Cubone’s good at defence though. And isn’t afraid of bigger opponents.]_ _ _

__It was Blue’s turn to nod, not taking his eyes off Red._ _

__“What about the lizard?” Red rolled his eyes._ _

___[He’s a dragon. And a stubborn, easily distracted one.]_ _ _

__Blue grinned._ _

__“You two have a lot in common then!” Red lightly punched his arm, and Blue laughed in response, stepping back with wide eyes “It’s true! You’re stubborn as fuck! Like they say in Kalos, _une vraie tête de Tauros._ ”_ _

__Red only stared at him, biting his bottom lip to avoid laughing as he hunched on himself and brought a hand to his mouth, incredulous._ _

__“ _A true Tauros’ head._ As stubborn as a Tauros. You truly are hopeless in the language of _l’amour, Rouge_.”_ _

___[Names aren’t translated!]_ _ _

__“You were named after a colour, so technically-“ he waved his fingers, grinning “I can use the _magic_ of language to translate it!”_ _

__Red pursed his lips, frowning._ _

___[Rouge sounds like a lipstick colour.]_ _ _

__Blue choked a laugh at that, receiving a half-hearted glare from Red._ _

__“I dunno what I’m more surprised about! You goin’ through the job of signing each and every letter of _Rouge_ individually and actually managing to spell it correctly, or you knowing what a lipstick shade is.”_ _

___[You learn a lot while traveling around.]_ _ _

__“Really? Are you keeping a dirty little secret from me now, _Rouge_?” Blue raised a brow, smirking as Red gave him another sceptical look, his cheeks matching his namesake as he shook his head._ _

___[I- no! Besides, weren’t you the one who stole Daisy’s makeup once-]_ _ _

__“Hey, hey!” Blue waved his arms, stopping Red mid-sentence “I was like, two at the time. It doesn’t count.”_ _

__Red crossed his arms and gave his typical ‘really?’ look, the posture completed by the slight arch of a brow and the tilt of his hip. Blue stuck his tongue out at him, straightening his back so he appeared taller._ _

__“Besides, I would never wear that now. It’s, ya know, unmanly as fuck.”_ _

___[Manliness is a social construct thing.]_ _ _

__Blue took a step back, exaggerating his reaction by raising his arms in mock defence and comically widening his eyes._ _

__“Woah Red! Did you take philosophy classes with the mountain ghosts while you were gone?! Wait, actually- are you a clone?! Who are you and what have you done with _my_ Red?”_ _

__Red seemed taken aback for a short second, quickly recovering and shaking his head. He raised one hand and awkwardly let it in the air, as if having some sort of inner turmoil, before settling down for resting it on Blue’s shoulder. Blue felt himself shiver even though his whole body was pleasantly warm, and he wallowed down dryly as he forced himself to smile and look up. Red rubbed his shoulder and brought his hand up to lightly pat his cheek before stepping back, leaving Blue in a melted state with a faint smile. Red’s next words didn’t reach Blue’s eyes._ _

__“Sorry, what?”_ _

___[_ Your _Red needs to feed his pokemons and get ready for the day.]__ _

__Shit. Had Blue said- oh well._ _

__“Prepare for the day? No-uh, we’re having a day in. No nothing to do, my legs are recovering.”_ _

__Red gave something akin to a pout, looking at Blue as if he had grown two heads or something._ _

___[We’re exploring the cave.]_ _ _

__Blue groaned, bringing one hand to mess with his hair._ _

__“Explore a cave, today? Are ya sure-“_ _

__One look at Red’s eyes told him he was positively screwed for the rest of his life. No man should have the power to convince someone without even trying. Now Blue remembered why he never lashed out at Red after the idiot committed any atrocity: it was impossible to stay mad or say no to him when the man truly wanted something._ _

__So Blue sighed, avoided Red’s gaze to stare at the three pokemons who were now silently having a staring contest, and finally groaned in defeat._ _

__“The things I do for you, bro. The things I do for you.”_ _

__Red beamed, shrugging in Blue’s general direction and making his way towards the door, his pokemons following suit. Pikachu had the nerve to look at his distressed state and mock him, running away like a giddy child once Blue flipped him off with a promise of one day locking the little pest away for all eternity._ _

__He said once, twice and would repeat as many times as necessary: fuck Alola._ _


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit I think this is the longest I've taken to update this fic? The chapter is long though, so hope it makes up for it. I'll leave my ramble to the other chapter notes, but jesus christ let me tell you: this chapter was the embodiment of hell to write. I re-wrote it and deleted many of the ideas I had for it at least twenty times before saying 'screw it' and starting from the beginning. 
> 
> We're three chapters from finishing though (+the epilogue), so I guess it's worth it?
> 
> As always, good reading!

Blue knew this was a bad idea. And if he didn't, he started to once he stepped a foot inside the cave and heard the distant shouts of annoying ground type pokemons and the screeches of infuriating little purple bats. It also didn’t help that the damned place was surrounded by water and looked like it was about to collapse at any given second.

Red, however, didn’t fucking care, since he was walking through the place like he owned it while taking in every detail with a focused gaze and a slow pace, Eevee strolling after him like a curious puppy. Blue himself was just looking at them with an annoyed gaze while brooding below the wet walls of the cave, his only content being the fact that Pikachu also seemed to only be putting up with this crap for Red’s sake. The mouse was glaring at the floor as if it were made of lava, cheeks occasionally sparkling and eyes more often than not glaring at its stubborn owner.

"Haven't you seen everything by now?" Blue eventually asked. Red simply shook his head "Red, this whole place is crumbling. No smart and unique pokemon lives here."

Red kept on walking, slowing down once he passed a few mushroom like beings. How bad would it be if those were Parasects? Ah, catastrophic. Blue was once pinched by one of those back at his grandfather’s lab. It hadn’t been a pleasant experience.

"You do know you'll find nothing extraordinary here, right?"

Only the distant echoes of Zubats answered him.

"Red, this is like every other cave out there: random Diglett encounters and annoying trips and falls on Geodudes. Also Zubats. _Many_ Zubats."

Surprisingly, Pikachu seemed to agree with him and stopped dead on its tracks, disdain written all over its raised chin as the creature basically snarled at Red. Blue sometimes swore the little pokemon was a bratty child turned into a yellow rat for eternity. Perhaps Bill had accidentally turned himself into a pokemon again? It had been years since Blue last heard of him.

"Dude, this is lame as fuck. The sea level will rise, and thanks to you we'll _swim with Magikarp_. Think about Venusaur! He won’t know what happened to me if we die! Also, my fan club would be crushed. Don’t ya care about my fans, Red?”

Red’s shoulder slightly shook as if he was holding in a laugh, and Blue frowned harder.

“This is why you don’t have many friends, ya know?”

This was also the reason Blue was losing the tiny strings of patience he had left. He huffed and threw his arms up in frustration.

“Let’s make a bet. If you do find a cool pokemon, I pay you… a drink, a shirt, a poke-doll, whatever you want. If there’s nothing here… We’re never stepping a foot inside a shady place such as this again.”

Red had the nerve to simply look over his shoulder with a sharp gaze and a thumbs up. _It’s on._

With a huff, he stuck his hands in his pockets and stomped after Red, his sunglasses dangerously close to falling off his head. Red kept on going, eyes scanning the area as his body occasionally moved out of the way to avoid all the Diglettes crawling through the place. Blue wondered how the hell there were even Diglettes in here: the cave was right by the sea.

Ah. Perhaps the Alolan Diglettes were water type. Or maybe they were just hanging out till the ocean forced them to go back to their respective homes. Who knew when it came to Alola.

The only thing he knew was that the idea of hanging out with Red and a glass of some fruity mix by the beach was far more appealing than walking through a crumpled cave in the middle of nowhere. And Blue hated fruity drinks, so that said a lot.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a loud shriek followed by something heavy falling. He abruptly stopped, his head snapping to the side while a choked sound of surprise came out of his mouth.

A Golbat was flying after a distressed Graveler. And they were going _their direction._

"Shit, told ya some bullshit would happen-"

Graveler rolled on the ground and stopped between him and Red - which wasn't hard, given how far apart they were - and growled. Golbat screeched back and leaped, cutting through the air at high speed. Graveler screamed and threw something and Blue suddenly couldn't see anything else as his blood turned cold.

_"RED!"_

The boulder collided with the top of the cave. His shout wasn’t quick enough.

Red turned around and raised both hands, a harsh vibration shaking through the dark, wet place and making him tumble. Blue shrieked. There was a sliding sound. His heart was racing as his mind chanted _I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die._ By the corner of his eye he saw Pikachu jumping towards him in panic, falling straight on a pool of water with a loud screech. Eevee was barking as well, too far away for his eyes to focus on. Red stopped looking up in horror and tried to run towards his pokemon, but suddenly the cave gave in as another rock was thrown and _boom._

The ground trembled as the ceiling collapsed, Blue following right after. Everything was too loud. He was screaming.

"Eevee!" 

The cave’s shaking lowered down, water particles and dust still dancing around the air. He awkwardly rose to his feet and groaned, his chest weighing as if the air had been punched straight out of his lungs. He limped towards the boulder and slammed both fists on the irregular shape, Red’s name tipping out of this tongue. Had the man been hit by it? Was he under the rock? Fuck, Blue hoped not. He vaguely heard Pikachu blabbering and running to his side.

"Red, if you hear me, do something! Anything!"

No answer.

"Red!"

Blue was met with the ocean's lullaby and the distant sound of ground pokemons whispering. He groaned again and slammed his fists back on the rock, shivering as his knees gave out beneath him. 

"He's fine, he's fine, he got this- he survived this far, he-"

He had to bring one hand to his mouth and pinch his nose to prevent from yelling further. His breath was coming out erratically as a sudden burn overtook his eyes, his whole body shaking against his will.

He turned around and realized Pikachu was by his side and hissing forward. He looked up and oh, there was Golbat, still screeching and ready to attack-

_Fuck._

Pikachu leaped, cheeks electrified.

Blue saw his life walking backwards as he took in how _wet_ everything was around him. He tried to shout _‘no’_ but it was too late, thundershock already bursting out of the pokemon's body and roaring through the cave. He saw it bouncing off the walls and coming towards him in slow motion, a yellow flash that never failed to fry his own pokemons’ bodies. When it hit him a weird, but not painful spark shook through his body and made him lose control over his muscles, a feeling of complete helplessness taking over him. He was going to die. Alone.

Last thing he knew, everything was black.

.

He blinked. His head was thrumming, and it felt like someone had placed a rock on his chest. Also, something was prying against his neck, a rough yet fluffy texture lightly tickling him. 

What... where was he?

He groaned and tried to take a look around, a massive headache forming at the back of his head. _Dark._ Everything was dark, except for that path of light coming from a hole in the… ceiling? The air also reeked of poison type venom, an acid smell that left his nostrils ablaze. He blinked again. Pikachu was on top of him, slowly raising its head as Blue’s pendant hanged from its mouth.

Ah. His reflective pendant, a gift from his grandfather. It was broken now for some reason, its stone cracked in the middle and a few smaller parts already missing and _shit,_ Blue was about to throw a tantrum until flashes of what happened filled his mind.

Fight, rocks, thundershock.

The pendant. The pendant saved him. When he fell, he must have hit his head on the ground and that’s why he was having such a trouble connecting back with reality.

He slowly got up, Pikachu getting off his body without much of a fuss. Looking around with frantic eyes, he ran back to the fallen boulder and let his fists collide with it. Red. Where the fuck was Red. He threw his hands up in frustration and walked back, one hand clutching his hair as the other tightened into a fist. Pikachu ran to him again, cheeks puffed.

"What? Gonna try to paralyze me again? Will work now, ya know. The reflective thing’s gone."

Pikachu eyed his necklace with sadness before glaring back at him again. It pointed back, towards the exit, and then at Blue again. Needless to say, Blue frowned.

"What? Wanna go back? I dunno what’s goin’ on in that little pea brain of yours, but we gotta move forward."

Pikachu made that annoying ' _pikapi'_ of its and pawned at his legs, cheeks turning yellow. Blue shoved it off and began to pace around.

"No! We gotta find a way around, not leave him here and try to invent a path. We ain't creators, Chubbychu! We're… We’re _trainers_ -"

He groaned and brought one hand to his head, a harsh pain pulsing below his palm. Crap. He felt nauseous, and all the yelling was positively killing him.

Pikachu either didn't care or didn't understand, because its head kept pointing back at the entrance of the cave as it growled. Blue murmured back another no, and another, and one more afterwards just to get his point across. Truly. What if there was no other way around and the sea level rose? What then?! His grandfather, along with Uncle Samson and Daisy, would murder him, that’s what. Heck, Blue didn't even know how long he had been down! The waters could be coming in any minute now!

Pikachu didn't bulge though, and Blue found himself pinching his nose in frustration.

"Fine, we'll do it your way... but don't ya fucking dare to thundershock anything again, got it?"

Pikachu perked up at that and made a happy noise, turning around and beginning to run down the cave.

It took roughly three steps before it ran back in disgust after nearly stepping on a puddle of water, crawling up Blue's body like a scared Skitty and hunching on his shoulder like a puffed Pidgey. Blue, obviously, wasn't happy.

"Hey- get the fuck off! You're weighting my shoulder- _AUCH_!"

He shrieked as Pikachu changed its position and began to try to crawl above his head, pulling at his hair and accidentally scratching his neck. The little fight went on, Blue hissing profanities as Pikachu either dropped back on his shoulder or jumped on his head, its paws thankfully avoiding the sore spot there. Seriously, how did Red even managed to do this?! 

"Okay, okay! On my shoulder! And quit touching the hair!"

Pikachu, surprisingly, obeyed and let go. It rested against his shoulder and slowly began to poke at his pendant, as if trying to distract itself from the fact that this was Blue’s shoulder and not his owner’s. Blue sighed and tried to fix his dishevelled hair, giving up with a huff that sent a few strands blowing up. Cursing one last time, he stomped towards the cave entrance, all the while wincing at how constricting the walls suddenly looked.

For the first time, he noticed the real damage that the slide had done

The cave’s top was caved in, light coming through the small gaps and bringing in the scent of salt and sand as the previously dark place emerged in pale blues and light yellows. The place was also uncomfortably silent, most of its habitants having probably fled after the slide. 

Blue held in the need to puke at the thought of Red being bellow those huge boulders he was leaving behind. He also felt like screaming again once he realized that Eevee could be below those rocks too. However, Pikachu seemed keen on looking for them, so that must mean they were safe.

It felt like years when they reached the entrance, his feet almost touching the cold water and his eyes scrunching at the sudden light. The wind blowing on his face felt like heaven, a cooling sensation for his nausea which gave him a sense of reality. Wordlessly, Pidgeot was let out. Blue got on top of it, Pikachu unusually quiet as it clung to both his neck and shirt. They slowly went up and flied around the cave, Pidgeot doing the job of looking for a gap (not the caved in one, since it was both too small and too useless for them) as Blue tried his hardest to hold on the feathers below him. 

He felt sick. Something was wrong.

"Down, down," he whispered "Anywhere."

Pidgeot nodded and lowered them on some plan terrain by the sea. Blue saw everything distorting in front of him as he just bent over by the water and threw up. Everything burned.

He didn't know how long he stood there, catching his breath as nausea over flooded him. Red was gone. Eevee was gone. He was a bad friend and a bad trainer. He should have said no. His head was killing him. His hands were trembling. What was happening? This couldn’t all be guilt. Had the pendant not worked properly? Had he been poisoned? Pikachu was screaming at him from somewhere nearby, probably having leaped from his shoulder once he saw him making a run for the water. Pidgeot was clucking in concern.

However, Blue only turned around in panic once he heard a particularly loud _‘chuuu’_ echoing through the air.

"No, no, no! Shit-"' he ran for Pikachu and hastily picked it up, startling the pest long enough to prevent electricity from even sparling out of its cheeks "Are you out of your mind?! We're surrounded by water! What would happen if you _pikapid_? We'd be dead, that's what! I told ya not to do that!"

Pikachu's cheeks lightened up as it glared daggers at Blue. 

“Look, just… Stand by my side - or on me, whatever – and stay put. This place is filled with water, and we don’t want you killing anyone. Red included. ‘Kay?”

Pikachu, thankfully, calmed down and resigned itself to climb back on Blue’s shoulders and brood there. Blue just sighed and gazed ahead, spotting a little breach on the rocks just by his left. Pidgeot did have a keen eye; Blue should buy it a malasada or something.

Calling the bird back, he moved towards the cave and began to slide through, the act not that difficult given his slim and not that bulky figure. The only problem was Pikachu, who had to squeeze itself after Blue and gurgle when its fur got wet. Blue shook his head and picked it up again, wondering how it even survived up in Snowy Land. As far as Blue was concerned, Mount Silver’s snow wasn’t exactly know for being dry.

“It’s so dark in here… You still know flash?”

Pikachu stared at him as if he was speaking gibberish.

“You know… Flash? Bright-up-the-room-move?” Blue tried again, gesticulating wildly. Pikachu blinked at him and tilted its head “C’mon, Red had to use the TM on one of you. You tellin’ me you never learned it?”

Perhaps Red had given it to another electric type pokemon. Blue wouldn’t be surprised, he himself had taught the move to a Magneton he no longer possessed (he had oh so kindly sent it to his grandfather, the electric agglomeration being nothing but a tool he had needed at the time. Damn, he had been such an uncaring asshole back then)… But Red had to have taught Pikachu flash. Flash was very useful when you yourself lived in a goddamn mountain.

“You gotta remember. It’s this… white light that brightens up everything.” He tried again. It occurred to him that maybe Pikachu simply didn’t remember the move’s name, since Red signed the attacks and never actually said them.

Something brightened on Pikachu’s eyes and the beast suddenly nodded, jumping out of Blue’s shoulder and using the move mid-air. Blue was thankful that flash didn’t actually produce electricity, or else he would be dead by now. Pikachu scrambled back to his shoulder after completing its task, a proud smile on its face.

“So you can be useful… Good to know.” He took a step forward scratched Pikachu behind its ear, the pokemon letting him do so for short seconds before trying to bite his finger “Keep up with the good work and I may give you a candy.”

Blue felt his body staggering through the cave, having to place one hand on the wall to stabilize himself before he toppled over. He noticed through half lidded eyes how different this part of the area was, with crystals growing out of the walls and various items the ocean had brought scattered through the ground. He gulped when he felt his foot colliding with something and looked down only to be met with the sight of a broken doll.

Everything was shady and scary, and Blue really should have brought Gyarados with him. Unfortunately, he didn’t want to leave Mimikyu on the PC for too long until it was trained well enough, so he had to make choices. Said choices involved switching a water dragon for a Pikachu doll. He still didn’t know if that had been wise.

“Let’s go.” He murmured, more to himself than anything.

He moved forward, grabbing Alakazam’s pokeball and forcing his body away from the wall with one arm. Yeah, Alakazam seemed like a good choice. All… psychic and calm. Like Sabrina. Good old Sabrina who probably had some long testament on her mind which would either calm him down or keep his nights (even more) restless for weeks at end. He liked Sabrina. She was cool. Calm, collected, serious but could be funny as hell if you got to know her. 

Just like Red.

The cave was bigger than he thought. Big and getting emptier as he walked. Only the sound of his own footsteps could be heard, an ugly noise that echoed through the cave’s walls and made Blue grimace. Where the fuck were Red and Eevee. He wanted to get out of here, fast. He hated dark and crumpled spaces. That was the main reason he didn’t stay on Lavender for more than a few hours or walked through the infamous Viridian Forest (or bug-hotspot, as younger trainers called it now) during the night. He didn’t even know why he had agreed on coming here in the first place.

Actually, now that he thought harder on it, he didn’t even know why he hadn’t tried to crush a hole through the boulders using one of his stronger pokemons. Ah, whatever, such complicated thinking was making his headache worse.

Tentatively, he called out Red’s name.

“Hey, you asshole! This’ no time to play hide and seek!” 

Nothing. He was getting really tired of the lack of attention today was giving him.

"Red? C'mon, pal, if you're here just... I dunno, break some shit or something."

He could have been screaming into the void by now. He frowned and brought one hand to the wall beside him, leaning heavily against it as he walked. Pikachu, for some reason, nuzzled his cheek with a worried _‘chu’._ The world was spinning.

"Red." His voice was getting more desperate with each turn.

Stopping dead on his tracks, he looked over at Pikachu and tried his hardest not to pull at his own hair.

"This ain't working. We should just go back, rethink a plan-"

And just like that faith turned again. A loud explosion blew off deep inside the cave, making walls tremble and Blue take a step back. He felt his eyes widening as a small smile tugged at his incredulous lips.

"There he is," he whispered "There he is! Told ya we would find him!"

Pikachu gave him the side eye as Blue began to tumble further down towards the sound. 

"That little shit... bet he got into trouble again. Can't your owner just mind his own damn business for _one_ day?"

Another boom went off, this time closer. _Red, I'm coming to get you._ His heart was doing laps around his chest, pumping adrenaline through his veins, body, soul. _Red, Red, Red._ Since when was he so dependent? Arceus, what would he do once the man was gone?

A shadow moving in his direction made him stumble and stop, one arm coming to rest on the wall again. Pikachu was speaking again, jumping off his shoulder and running forward, disappearing into a curve and being replaced by a brown ball of fluff sprinting towards him. _Eevee._ Eevee was here.

“Hey, lil’ princess… You behaved well? Kept him alive for long enough?”

He picked Eevee up, the pokemon curling into him and nuzzling his neck. He smiled and looked ahead, a tall figure in a white t-shirt, ragged jeans and distinctive cap coming into view. Red.  
There he was. The goddamn fool. His back was towards him, and by the throw of his arm Blue could tell he was in a battle of some sorts.

“Guess there was a smart and unique pokemon here after all… Own ya some.” he said.

Red looked back with a small smile. However, this soft look didn’t last for long, since soon his lips were curling downwards as he stared at Blue with confused eyes and knitted eyebrows. Blue chuckled. 

“What? Am I that ugly after a cave exploration?”

Something growled, making Red look forward again. A yellow light was hitting the walls of the cave, just in front of him, the colour coming closer and closer until Charizard’s back was in view. Red quickly signed something and grabbed a pokeball, waiting till the dragon finished its attack before throwing. He was rushing. Blue knew Red well enough to know he didn’t catch pokemons he like that. He attacked, then crouched in front of them and presented the ball, as if asking for the monster’s consent before catching them. That’s why when Mimikyu rejected his pokeball, he didn’t force it and opted to give the pokemon to Blue instead.

It was adorable, and very considerate. It was also very stupid given the world they lived in, but who was Blue to judge? 

He looked up in surprise as Red’s body materialized in front of him. The world wasn’t spinning as much now, thankfully. It would be awful if it was, since then he wouldn’t be able to see Red’s eyes this close. The light coming from Charizard’s tail was making them a deep orange colour with tints of red. He also noticed a constellation of small sun freckles dotting his nose. _Freckles_. Red had _freckles._ It was beautiful. Red was beautiful.

“Hey, made a new friend?” he said.

Red didn’t answer, a frown still plastered on his face as he raised one hand and placed it on the side of Blue’s face. Blue’s breath hitched.

“Red?”

Red tilted his face to the side and moved his hand, his fingers tangling through his hair and reaching back. Blue winced as they lightly brushed over that sore spot, making the man immediately stop and pull back. He was still close though. Too close. 

_[What happened?]_

Blue half stared at him.

“A slide, of course. I also served as a Ponyta for your son. You’re welcome.”

Red repeated his question. Blue frowned.

“The rocks fell, Pikachu… Pikachu was dumb and used thundershock, the move hit me- _no, Red, as much as I hate your spoiled brat it wasn’t that bad._ Only broke my reflective pendant.” Red sighed in relief and nodded at him to continue “Then… Then I got up, and here I am.”

Red shook his head and signed again. Blue’s eyes were brought down to his mouth, his rough shaped lips that would feel amazing pressed against his forehead, his cheek, his neck, his own lips.

_[What happened to you.]_

Red emphasized the _you,_ pointing at him at least three times to get the point across. Blue coughed and leaned into him, one hand resting on Red’s chest was the other kept Eevee in place. He was so close. He could just… raise his chin, either pull Red down or get on his tip toes, and bam. He would do it. Where was his confidence?

“I had the bad idea of approaching you in kindergartner, that’s what happened to me.”

Red shook his head and signed his name with one hand. Blue let his own trace down Red’s chest, pulling it away only to grab the man’s arm. Red did nothing, letting him trace patterns on his skin as he waited for an answer. Blue’s focus fell back on Red’s unfairly pretty face. No wonder everyone liked him. He was pretty sure he used to hate the mere idea of Red being better than him at anything – beauty included. Now, however? He felt like he could just stare at him for hours at end. 

An angel, yes. Red was an angel who fell from the sky. He was an angel who fell from the sky and spent his free hours working with demons. There was no way a human being could have so much power over someone. Red most definitely wasn’t mundane for the things he did to Blue’s body-

Ah. He must have inhaled poison. Normal Blue Oak wouldn’t be so open about his crush, not even to himself.

“Red.” He answered back, moving closer “Red, shit-”

Each word was lowering in pitch till he was whispering, body swaying. Was this him or the weird sickness he was feeling? He frowned as he realized memory was slipping from him. What had he said a few moments prior about kindergartener? Actually, what had Red asked him?

“You… What was the question again?”

Red pulled back slightly. Blue didn’t let go of his arm, only lessening the grip so that the man could speak.

_[What… happened to you?]_

Blue fully leaned on against him, his head resting below Red’s chin. That felt nice. He was tired of standing up. He was sleepy. He wanted to go home. Or tell Red he loved him. Maybe both.

“What do you mean?”

Red pulled him away by the shoulders and signed again, the words jumbling together as he rushed the sentence to hold Blue again.

_[There’s dry blood on your hair.]_

“Oh shit.”

So that’s why his mind was fucking over. 

Red gave him another concerned look and tilted his head, staring down at him with a fond gaze.

_[Hurts?]_

Blue must really be out of it, because he just nodded instead of denying the pulsing pain at the back of his head. Red gulped and moved forward, wrapping one arm around him and calling Charizard back.

Despite everything, Blue felt like he was back home as they moved together out of the cave, bodies pressed against one another as Pikachu ran by their side and Eevee lightly nuzzled his chin.

He should hit his head more often if this was what he got.

.

The trip to the hospital felt like a blur. Actually, the whole segment of time between waking up from Pikachu’s attack and arriving at the tall white building was a foggy memory which details he couldn’t even remember, the only strong image the one of Eevee getting between his arms and Red walking him out of there. One second he was on top of Pidgeot, the other he was walking into the hospital and answering everything that came his way through a dazed state. Red was always by his side, holding a little tighter every time someone came to them and rubbing his shoulder every time he winced in pain.

Before he knew it, he was getting a few (and rather painful) stitches. In a blink, he was sitting on a stool and getting a cold towel pressed against his hair, cleaning the dry blood and making him feel like a baby. He didn’t like hospitals.

The nurse looked just like good old Nurse Joy, the only difference being the blond hair pulled into two buns and the darker skin tone. She was also talking to him, explaining that it was just a minor head injury, that the cranium hadn’t been damaged, that with the technological advancements they possessed he would be fine in a few days, the type of meds he would be taking. Blah blah blah. Medical gibberish Blue never understood.

“So… that means people here in Alola hit their heads often?” he eventually asked, just as the nurse was putting down the towel and grabbing a bandage. Oh, he basically had an undercut now too, since the stitches couldn’t be made over the hair. Not that he minded the style, but his precious hairstyle being changed all of a sudden had taken a low blow to his self-esteem.

“Not exactly. Your injury comes from a bad angled fall after a near paralysation; most head injuries here used to come from actual rocks falling on top of trainers down in Diglett’s Tunel. That place was a true headache three years ago.”

Blue chuckled.

“Sure it was… and can I still battle? I can’t just sit around for a few days, ya know?”

The nurse sighed, letting go of the bandage and grabbing a really huge and square band-aid instead. Or what appeared to be one: then again, Blue never cared for medical crap, even the most basic one. If it looked like a huge band-aid, it was a huge band aid. Simple. A pokeball was a pokeball too regardless of its colour.

“Mister Blue, it isn’t advised for you to go around doing activities which require moving around a considerable lot. Pokemon Battles are physically intense, not only for the pokemon, but for the trainer as well. A few ones here and there shouldn’t hurt, but a Battle Tree is too much. Wait at least three days before going in.”

She was turning to him again, applying the thing just over his stitches and making him wince. The glue wasn’t touching the wound, but still the soft press of cotton was too uncomfortable for his skin.

“But I can’t wait that long! I’ve been flunking it for three days now! Adding three more is-“

“Mister Blue,” the nurse said, voice restrained but no less authoritarian as she moved back “Ula’Ula’s hospital already provides a relatively fast injury treatment. We received worldwide funding due to the Tunel’s problem we were just talking about, which was used in investigation and technology improvements. Two or three days is a miracle compared to what medicine was five years ago. The Battle Tree is _out of question._ Nothing may happen, but if it does, it could damage the brain even further. A light head injury shouldn’t turn into a severe one.”

It took all of Blue’s strength not to bite back. He hated being talked down to. He hated having people telling him what he could or couldn’t do. He hated doctors. This nurse was just getting on his nerves, and she must have noticed, because soon she was moving back to her computer to type away his profile and – possibly – give him a prescription for the meds he needed. Seriously, where was the warm Alolan spirit now?

When he finally stepped out of that hospital, a prescription in hand and fresh air blowing on his face, he sighed in relief.

The day couldn’t get any worse than this. He just wanted to sleep into the next dimension.

.

The streets of Malie City were crowded with busy workers and young trainers, loud voices filling the air accompanied by the occasional laugh or shout. It wasn’t nearly as populated as Kalos, but still did a pretty impressive job of making you feel claustrophobic given how small the Islands were.

Red was quietly walking by his side, back slightly hunched and cap covering half of his face in shadows. Pikachu, for once, was tightly cuddled between his arms instead of hanging off his shoulder, as if working as a little stress reliever for him. Yeah. Red hated crowds-

Their walk back home was being… extremely awkward too. They got the meds on a pharmacy just outside the hospital (Red insisted on paying for them), and ever since then their conversation had been null. Blue tried to cheer it up by diving into a crazy theory about why Alolan Raichus were psychic type, but not even that seemed to bring Red out of his fidgety state.

After at least fifteen minutes of aimlessly walking around, Blue was growing frustrated with the lack of conversation. Sure, he had almost got a concussion because Red was stubborn as hell. And sure, it was technically Red’s fault they couldn’t attend the Battle Tree for at least three days. But what could be done about it? If anyone was to blame was Pikachu, who had leaped at the chance of dropping some bat blood and didn’t even stop to think that _hey,_ water and electricity don’t go well together.

Which was also Red’s fault, since he was the beast’s trainer. Oh well.

"Oi, Red, what do ya think? Is it the sun, the deities, or the ocean? Ya gotta have an input."

Red gave him a side glance and shrugged.

Blue's eyebrow twitched.

"Bro. You _gotta have an input._ Help me figure it out." It was a demand said through gritted teeth. 

Red shrugged again, bringing one hand up to mess with his cap and quickly bringing it back to prevent Pikachu from falling. Blue suppressed the need to groan. He wanted fucking attention, alright?

"Red. Serious talk here - frying your brain over this won't solve shit. Sure, it’s flattering you’re worried, but c’mon! Ya gotta distract yourself."

First Sun, now Red. Maybe Blue should just drop his trainer and gym leader career and become a psychologist.

Red looked down and seemed to be in deep thought, lips pursed and brows knitted together.

"For real. You couldn’t possible imagine that a Golbat would chase a Graveler and end up destroying half a cave- ah. When I put it like this, it does sound like a movie, doesn’t it?”

Red broke his pensive stance with a chuckle, shaking his head. He finally looked up at Blue, lips pulled back into a line despite the lowering pressure on his forehead. He also pulled Pikachu up his shoulder to free his hands.

_[You don’t think it’s my fault?]_

Blue shook his head.

“Not really. Besides, now I can make up the wildest shit about my unlucky ass and people have no other choice but believe it! I can say I was attacked by Zapdos and got this huge scar! That sure is a nice chat starter. _Hey dude, wanna see my scar? The electric god bird gave it to me._ ”

Red chuckled again, this time bringing one hand to hide his mouth as he looked away. Blue smiled too.

"Just… Don’t think too hard on it. Only problem is the lack of battling we’ll face… I should be the one apologizing, actually.”

Red’s head snapped to the side as he openly frowned at him, pace stuttering. Blue looked away with a nervous laugh.

“I mean, if it weren’t for my dumb self fucking up his body by falling on the ground, we could spend tomorrow doing more exciting stuff than… I dunno, catching a fucking Vulpix or Ninetales for Daisy.”

Red kept on giving him the sceptical look, as if Blue was growing three heads and turning into an Exeggutor.

“What? Too pretty you’re at loss for words? I know, Red, I know. It happens.”

Red shook his head, stopping briefly before shaking it harder again.

_[You didn’t- Why are you suddenly saying that? You-]_

Red threw his arms down and bit his bottom lip, face scrunching up as he stomped on the ground. Blue was pretty sure his own face was the embodiment of the question mark right now.

“Red? Wha-“

Red shushed him by pressing one finger against his lips. He took the chance when Blue’s brain froze to speak again.

_[Before you would defame me and yell to the world this was my fault. I- What the fuck, Blue. Pikachu is mine, the idea of going in there was mine. Why aren’t you taking advantage of that?]_

Blue gaped at him for five full seconds before he clenched his teeth, glaring at Red as he tried his best not to snap. Seriously? He was trying to be a good person, and this was the shit he got?

“Maybe because I’m not that much of a dick?! What the fuck Red, why would I do that! You’re my best friend!”

He took it with glee when Red looked down again, face darkening in shame as he realized how much of an asshole he had been. Blue huffed and crossed his arms, looking around but not actually seeing what was happening outside his head. Seriously, fuck this guy. Why did Blue love him, anyway?

Red tapped his shoulder, still avoiding his gaze. Blue huffed in response.

_[I’m sorry. Does it hurt?]_

_Ah. This is why I love him._

Blue shook his head and tried to hold back a smile, which was hard given how fast his anger was slipping away from him. 

“Nah, it’s fine. Only bad thing were the stitches, those hurt like bitch. Never get stitched Red, it’ll fuck your sensitive skin over.”

That was a lie. His head still hurt a lot. He wouldn’t admit that to Red though. Red, who had turned towards him and was talking again.

_[Do you… remember?]_

“Remember what?” Blue asked.

_[You were… pretty out of it. When I found you.]_

“Okay, first of all I was the one finding you. I had to walk miles with a scratch on my head and some mind blowing nausea while you were off catching whatever the hell you-“

_[An ice type Sandslash.]_

“Yeah whatever. The point is: on top of saying Zapdos gave me a scar, I can say I had to walk for hours just to save your sorry ass like the good friend I am! And you can’t deny it!”

Red just shook his head and stared ahead again, patting Pikachu’s head.

_[I’m sorry.]_

“Not your fault. It’s Zapdos’.”

Red gave him a pointed stare.

“Okay, okay! Apologies accepted. Just- forget about it. I don’t wanna remember how I opened my head by falling. _Distract yourself_ from that. Happy thoughts, mountain man, happy thoughts.”

Red went back to his little world for short seconds before nodding to himself, patting Pikachu one last time and quickly beginning to move his hands.

_[You're distracting.]_

Blue gagged.

"Pardon?"

_[You're distracting.]_

Red's neutral face when he repeated it made Blue lose it. He felt his face burning and his knees growing heavier as he kept on gapping.

"Uh- I am? I mean, of course I am, have you looked at me? I'm a goddamn miracle. But- shit Red, that sounded so gay."

Red frowned at him, signing slower this time.

_[Did I say something wrong?]_

"What?"

_No. Far from it.´_

“Gay isn’t a bad word anymore, you know? Or… Is slowly stopping to.” Blue lightly nudged Red’s shoulder with his own, making the man look up at him with half his face covered in shadows as his mouth and chin stood baked in warm orange light “But seriously… Comin’ with me to Alola, sleeping with me on my uncle’s house – and let’s not forget how freaking glued to the hip we were today. People may think we’re an item or something.”

Oh, this time literally punched himself okay. He just slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead and let it tumble down as he improvised a laugh. Red's own head snapped to gape at him again, a frown firmly placed into place as he just frantically moved his hands without actually saying any words.

Ah. At least Blue's stupid and pining ass had made him speechless.

"C'mon, people speculate, Red. Haven't checked yet, but I'm pretty sure our duo arrival here at burning islands already stirred some fire in the media department."

He lightly informed, much to Red's scandal, and quickly wrapped one arm around the man's shoulders to try and lighten up the mood. Blue could feel his cheeks flaming in embarrassment. Red's ones were also coated in a nice shade of pink, his gaze glued on the floor as he was helplessly pulled into Blue's side, his arms crossing and Pikachu jumping on the floor with a huff.

"Can't blame them though. Two hot stuffs like us hanging out? That sure leaves an open space for juicy news.”

Red didn't seem any less jumpy, though he did lean slightly against Blue and raised his eyes. Blue gulped behind his twitchy smile and just hoped Red didn’t notice the fact that Blue had just indirectly called him hot. Red’s eyes fluttered as he avoided Blue’s gaze and looked at his lips instead, cheeks flushed. Shit, he was both handsome and adorable. What had Blue done to deserve this?

"Does it mess with you that much?" Red nodded, pursing his lips and lightly hunching on himself. Small but there "You don't need to let it get to you, dude."

Blue smiled as he remembered the first time something not pokemon related about him came out. It was some rumour about him and Koga, and some supposed argument they had one night after a meeting. _Blue and Koga._ It had made him fume for ages, because the old man was actually one of his favourite gym leaders back in the time. He had always loved how cool the poison ninja aesthetic was. And besides, the man didn't really argue with anyone, always too busy being too loud for his age to actually hold a grudge.

The point was: there had been no argument. The same way there was no torrid relationship between him and Red. Which was a shame, because Blue was starting to wonder how he would live once they went back Kanto and Red abandoned him again.

He really should consider telling him about his feeling. His talk with Sun had motivated him to do so, so why was he holding back now? Confession or not, Red didn't seem like the type to shit on him and feel disgusted. He would probably just ask why.

Blue gulped and felt his stomach twist. Or perhaps that wouldn't happen. Perhaps Red would have the same reaction some of his hometown "friends" had when the news he was gay came out. Perhaps things would get awkward and Red would stop being close to him.

As much as Blue didn't want to admit, Red was someone he liked having around. He never truly realized how much he missed him till he appeared at the lab, older than before but still making Blue's heart twist painfully and his brain dissolve into nothing as Butterfrees grew on his stomach.

Ugh, he was so sappy.

He looked over at Red and bit his bottom lip, his fingers fiddling with the fabric of Red's sleeve. His side was growing pleasantly warm as he kept his arm in place, their legs occasionally brushing together and making his body tingle. The pain on his head dissipated. The people passing by paid them no mind, Alola strangely open with its affections to give much of a damn about to guys basically holding each other. Red also seemed to have forgotten all about the people anyway, looking at him with half open eyes and a light tilt of his head.

Blue swallowed before speaking up, his voice low.

"I mean, unless you want to, you know... Make them true."

Red kept his eyes on him, lips parting as he sighed. Blue felt more than saw him uncrossing his arms, their steps growing slower. That's it. Blue will say it. It's now or never. You only live once, right? And _shit shit shit,_ Red wasn't pulling away as his face lit up in understanding so maybe-

"Red, I-"

Someone bumped into him. Hard.

Blue tumbled to the side, Red’s arm catching him mid-air even though he wasn’t about to goddamn fall in the first place. He turned around in fury, his arm still gripping Red’s shoulder as he glared at whoever had the audacity to interrupt his moment. His face was probably the epitome of ire right there and then, but fuck it he was just so mad! He almost had it! Almost! And now some dude ruins everything by smashing into him? Was this some cosmic way of foreshadowing telling him that a relationship with Red wouldn't work out?!

"The fuck, dude?! Watch where you goin’, dumbass!" He shouted, bawling his fists. Red's Pikachu was in front of its owner in no time, hissing and threatening to electrocute anything that got within a ten inches of them.

The man who had almost killed him (okay, he was probably over reacting) turned harshly on his heels, jaw clenched as he all but fumed at Blue with one finger pointing at him like a sword.

"Watch where I'm goin’?! You two lovebirds were the ones who fuckin' pushed me!"

"Lovebirds my ass!" Blue immediately shout, both he and Red letting go of each other and taking two steps to the side. The man didn't even flinch, his eyes still glued on Blue "And you clearly were the one doing the pushing!"

"Say what?! You stupid or something? I- ugh!"

The man pulled at his hair and took a deep breath, as if trying to calm himself. Three people were by his side in no time, two guys and one girl, looking so short in comparison that only now Blue was realizing how tall this man was.

"Yo, we gotta go! We’re runnin’ late!" One of the guys said.

"Yeah, it’s almost seven! Ya never like to be late, right?" The girl lightly tapped his arm, making the man release a breath and step forward "Boss? We-"

"Not your boss anymore, remember?" The man said, turning his face slightly "You three go and say I'll be late. Kanto boy here's lookin' for a fight!"

Woah, what? Blue just wanted a fucking apology!

"Hey, no one's-"

"Scared?" The man turned to him. The three people following him just sighed and stepped back, clearly not interest in obeying the man’s orders and going away. 

"Not fucking likely," Blue answered, gritting his teeth. He then took a deep breath and tried to give off a charming smile, since there were people around and he had a reputation to keep "Why, you are?"

To his surprise, the man chuckled and began to walk forward, one pokeball mysteriously appearing on his hand.

"That's more like it. Ya boy ain't scared of no shit, though. I'll beat ya down and crush your little-"

Blue frankly stopped hearing afterwards. It wasn’t that the speech was being a long ass boring villain cliché, it was just that he could only focus on how tall this man was! Taller than him, taller than Red, taller than that Kukui dude (who was pretty damn... hard to have a conversation with without craning your neck and splinting it, Blue found),… And his whole appearance was just flat out weird. He looked like the type of gangster who would break into your house just to screw up with your tech and expensive décor, not bothering to even take any money with him. That was the level of uncanny mixture of _I don’t give a fuck_ and _I’ll actually break your neck if you criticize me_ this guy waved off.

Maybe Blue was just being pretentious and judging a book by its cover, but it was just impossible to think well of someone who had just took away his only chance at getting into Red’s pants. Blue was pretty much willing to sacrifice his soul if it meant kicking this guy’s ass.

And blah blah blah, Blue wasn't listening. Who could? One look back into reality, and he could only stare harder at the man. He had (clearly dyed) white hair growing in poofs over an undercut, a weird pair of circular yellow glasses neatly place above his forehead. He had sharp nose with rough looking lips, wore clothes a little bit too baggy for his body, and walked like he had some serious back problems that got overlooked as he grew older. He was... an unusual sight. And Blue had been to Kalos, so he knew unusual when he stared at it in the face.

And oh, he was in Blue's personal space now and shit, had Blue said he was tall? He lied. The man was a mountain. And a very familiar looking mountain.

Red grabbed Blue’s arm and gave him a pointed look, as if to say that he wasn’t going to battle right now. Not after what happened less than five hours ago. Blue shrugged him off and stared up at the giant man, noticing that those three friends of his were back and doing to him the same thing Red had done.

“So how’s it, Kanto boy? Ya gonna stand up to the challenge?” he said, shrugging the other three off.

“Boss, we don’t have time for-“

“Shhh, it’s not every day ya face a champion. I wanna know how’s it like outside.”

Oh, so the dude did know who he was. It was unnerving, since Blue himself knew for a fact that he had seen the guy’s face somewhere.

Red pulled at his arm again, slowly beginning to lose his cool.

“Aw, your boyfriend knows what’s good for you!”

“Not my boyfriend.” Blue spoke a little bit too quickly, shrugging Red off again. Seriously, what was with this dude?

People were looking now.

“Whatever, kiddo. Lovers or not, ya don’t get to bump people and then say-“

A flash of recognition. Blue jumped and jammed a finger into the man’s chest, eyes going wide as he grinned. So that’s where he-

"You're the Team Skull dude!”

The Team Skull dude rolled his eyes and backed off, crossing his arms.

"It's _Guzma_! For fucksake! Can ya tourists stop calling me that?! The group’s disbanded!"

“Boss, we really need to go, yo! Ya know how Plumeria gets when-“

“But-“

“Ah, looks like those kids know what’s good for you!” Blue retaliated, glaring at Red when the man pulled his sleeve again.

“Boss!”

“OKAY, FINE!” Guzma finally shout, eyes falling back on Blue.

Blue crossed his arms and puffed up his chest, lips forming a thin line as one eyebrow neatly arched on his face. Guzma huffed and jammed one finger in this direction again, voice much lower as the people around them pretended not to be staring.

“You’re a lucky one, kiddo. If I see you again though… We’ll settle this. Gonna chicken out or take it?”

Blue snickered, coming closer with the same low voice pitch.

“I avoid no battle, pal. You’ll be the one gettin’ your ass kicked.”

To his surprised, Guzma actually smirked at that and patted his shoulder. Blue shrugged his hand off, trying his best not to _frown_. Frowning would break his bad boy posture.

“That’s the spirit! Don’t get eaten by a bug before our fun time!” the man took two steps back, much to his friends and Red’s relief. Blue just found it annoying that he wouldn’t have the pleasure of kicking that smirk out of Guzma’s face right now “And bye to ya too, champion kid. Wanna test that Pikachu of yours as well.”

Red stammered at that, as if he hadn’t been expecting the attention. Blue just rolled his eyes and grabbed his arm, watching as Guzma and his three followers went down the street. Only after they were out of view did he sighed and began to pace too, ignoring Red’s burning stare by looking at the ground. Red didn’t seem to understand he didn’t want to talk.

_[And then I’m the one who sticks his nose everywhere.]_

“The guy was asking for it. And if it cheers you up, we have no place marked to do the actual battling.”

_[I’ve seen him at the Battle Tree. Doing multi battles with Moon.]_

“So we both will get the pleasure of kicking him down? Great.”

Red shook his head, giving that kind of sigh he gave whenever Blue was being particularly dense. Blue ignored that as well. 

He needed to change the theme of the conversation.

“Hey, Red?” Red huffed in response “People totally think we’re dating after this. Bet it’ll come out on your daily pink magazine by tomorrow.”

Surprisingly, Red didn’t flip him off in annoyance. Instead, he gave a half chuckle and shook his head, his eyes landing half-heartedly on him again. Blue gulped.

_[Let them.]_

Blue gave a nervous chuckle.

“It suddenly stopped bothering you? You do know your fame as the ‘mysterious hermit’ will go down the drain if people think you’re with… well, with me, right? Also, my awesomeness will be shadowed. That always happens when two prestigious trainers get together. And homophobia, lots of homophobia. Do ya even like men to carelessly deal with that?”

Okay, maybe he was going a little bit too far. It wasn’t his fault his brain went on and rambled as a response to any minor inconvenience on his life. 

Red peeked curiously at him.

_[Do you?]_

Blue felt a shiver go up his arms as his heart seemed to close up in anxiety.

“Asked first. Dunno how it’s like up a mountain, but here at ground level who asks first gets answer first.”

Red only kept on staring at him, face neutral. You never knew what he was thinking when his body was devoid of any emotion.

_[I… I don’t care.]_

Blue huffed in response.

“Cool.”

Red pointed one finger at him. Blue bit hard on his bottom lip. He had chances. _Chances._ Even if those were minimal, it was a start. Actually, those chances were acutely rising given their previous conversation, before the Guzma dude appeared.

“Like I said, they’ll think we’re dating. And you’ll shade my great looks. Take what you want.”

Red shook his head with a sigh.

_[I can’t shade your loud mouth.]_

He paused, hands mid-air before he proceeded.

_[Actually, I couldn’t even if I tried.]_

Blue burst out laughing, scaring a child passing by as all the stress slowly began to leave his body.

“Shit Red! Did you-“ he tried to speak over breathy laughs, failing miserable as his voice constricted “You could – fucking Moltres – you could stand in front of me. And wave frantically.”

_[I’m not a Mr. Mime.]_

Blue brought one hand to his chest as the other clutched Red’s shirt for support, his laughing dying down in the slightest.

“Yeah, true. You’re more of a Snorlax. A slim, good looking one though.”

He wished he had been ashamed of saying that. He wasn’t. Red was also giving him a small smile.

_[If I’m Snorlax, who are you?]_

“Fucking Arceus, obviously.”

_[Out of this world?]_

“Ya got it! Too divine to grace this green land with my presence.”

And they kept on walking, the conversation just floating until they no longer knew what had started it. Blue was managing not to be an asshole and say the wrong thing, and Red was trying not to leave him hanging. All in all, it was a refreshing way to end this awful, sanity crushing day.

.

The sun was already setting once they got home. Samson was nowhere to be seen, a fact Blue was happy about - he didn’t want to deal with the man just now. Red excused himself and went to take a shower, leaving Blue alone on their shared room. He was about to just go into the living room and turn on the TV when his PokeNav vibrated, his sister’s name flashing on the screen. Blue cursed and moved to put on a something with a hood, not wanting to share his experience with Daisy either. Panicking, he grabbed the first thing he saw – a yellow and green jacket that probably belonged to Red – and put it on, pulling the hood over his head to try and cover any vestige of his horrible day.

Taking a deep breath, he answered.

“Hey lil’ brother! It’s been so long!” she chirped in, taking one look at him and suddenly smiling brightly. Blue frowned with a sly smile.

“So long? Daisy, I don’t know what reality ya live in, but it’s been like… four, maybe five days?”

“Eternity,” she answered back, clasping both hands in front of her face as she kept on gaping “I bet you have a lot of news to tell me!”

Blue gave the tiny PokeNav a sceptical look, mind trying to find what Daisy was exactly talking about. She always got that look on her face when she wanted to extort some sort of info from him. 

“Uh… Me and Red are planning on doing multi battles? We also found out Alolan Persians are a weird bunch.”

“Oh, you and Red did, uh?” she replied with an itch on her tone.

“I just said that? Pay fucking attention?” he said “Anyway, we also… battled a few kids? Damn, you aren’t about to nag me about not giving an easy victory to seven year olds, are you?”

Daisy gave up on her charade and huffed, staring back at Blue with wide eyes.

“Damn, Blue! I mean, I read it on a blog I follow, but you know how the media is. I didn’t want to trust it right away. But seeing you wearing his stuff- Shit! When were you planning on telling me?”

“About what?!” Blue was really beginning to lose his patience.

“About you and Red!”

Blue stared at her for at least ten solid seconds before he realized what she said. Then, his face coloured up till it looked like a damned tomato and he just combusted, covering his mouth with one hand and staring at her as if she had just grown three heads.

“What- we aren’t- it’s not like we, you know- Daisy! What the fuck!”

She smiled brightly.

“C’mon, there’s nothing to be ashamed of! Y’aren’t hiding stuff from your dear big sister now, are you?”

“I’m not!” he almost shouted back. Almost.

“Then why didn’t you tell me sooner? I mean, you’re wearing his clothes. You know what that means here in Kanto.”

“Because we aren’t- you know.” He said far too quickly. Daisy didn’t look convinced.

“Blue.”

“We aren’t! I swear! Is this- ugh, I was cold and this was the only warm thing, okay? It means nothing of the sort-”

Daisy ironically nodded.

“Yeah, and it’s a shame I had to found out my brother was dating hotstuff over there through a-“

“Me and Red aren’t dating! Or want to! Shit, at least I think he doesn’t want to- I mean, I don’t want to. Pff, me? With the weirdo mountain man? Never. Anyway, we aren’t together. That blog is full of bullshit. Me wearing his crap proves nothing. It was a misunderstanding! And wearing someone’s attire doesn’t mean anything of the sort there in Kanto, don’t fuck with me. You’re just trying to start shit-“

“Oh my god.”

“Daisy-“

“Oh my god! Just- holy shit!”

She was positively burning in giddiness right now, as if a whole new world of information had busted open through the screen and was now reaching her mortal brain. Blue’s mortal brain was turning into a pile of goo. His face was positively turning into lava right now.

“Yeah, I was messing with ya. Wearing his jacket is like, so unreliable to tell if you’re dating or not.”

“Yes!” Blue piped in.

“Buuuut-“ she pointed a finger at him, or tried to since it got off the camera’s length of sight “You like him.”

“Do not!”

_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit._ He was having a stroke. He most definitely was having a stroke. Someone call Nurse Joy.

“You do!” Daisy continued, beaming “You got the hots for him!”

“Shhhh, stop it, what if someone hears you-“ he said in a high pitch, frantically trying not scream but sounding like he had swallowed a bug and was now squeaking like a duck.

“Oh god, you wanna get into the- uh, what was it? – you wanna get into the weirdo mountain man’s pants! You wanna-“

“I’m fucking gonna mute you!”

“AH! PokeNav doesn’t have a mute button. Ya should have updated your tech.”

“I’m never speaking to you again. Ever.”

“Whatever Blue.”

They stood in silence for a while, Blue trying to calm his racing heart as Daisy tried to hold in her laughter. Eventually, she broke the silence.

“Since when?”

“Fuck off.” He muttered.

“Blue.”

“No, fuck you.”

She sighed.

“Have you told him? Forget it, of course you haven’t. Ya wouldn’t be denying your torrid romance if you had.”

“Okay, alright, subject change!” he raised his head and shout “How’s Venusaur?”

“Blue-“

“I mean, it’s been a while. My plant baby surely can come back now?”

“Blue, you can just talk to me-“

“And what about Team Rocket or… whoever did this? You got anything on them?”

Daisy opened her mouth to speak again but promptly shut it, opting for a sigh. Blue gulped and hoped she would drop it. He was embarrassed enough as it was.

Thankfully, Daisy got the hint.

"No nothing, little brother. No nothing."

"Really?" Blue asked, hugging his pillow.

"I mean, your Venusaur is fine now, should leave in two or three days... but Team Rocket? We know nothing yet. They haven't approached again, so there's nothing we can really do."

“Ah, the old ‘wait till they make a move and kill someone for clues’ move, I see.”

“Hey, this isn’t some criminal show. No one’s getting killed- well, no one was murdered yet. But I don’t think that’s their thing.”

Blue hummed in response, taking one glance at the door to be sure that yes, it was closed. Pikachu wasn’t screaming down the hall either too, so Red must be still taking that long damned shower. He shook his head before his mind went to darker places and he imagined water sliding down Red’s torso as his hands came down to- _okay Blue Oak, behave. It’s bad enough your sister know you wanna bone him._

"I mean... are you sure it's even them? It's been a while since they made a real comeback, Daisy." He coughed afterwards.

"Who else would it be?"

"Team Rocket is more steal, kill and hoard. This ones are like... fuck over people's pokemons and watch their gyms crumble."

"Take the power from gym leaders, and the League itself will start crumbling."

Blue snorted at that.

"Yeah, sure. I can just picture how worried Lance and the others were as me and Red forced our way through Giovanni's grunts just to get a few badges- oh, yeah, they couldn’t give less of a shit if they tried. Seriously. Only Lance stepped up, and that was at least four years later when Gold appeared."

"Blue!"

"What? It's true!"

"Ugh, you're impossible!"

The room went quiet afterwards. Blue had to break eye contact and look around, his gaze landing on Eevee who was now trying to pry some weird bag of food from Red's bag. Oh well, not Blue's loss. He returned his attention to the PokeNav once Daisy spoke again.

"You... you haven't told Red, have you?"

Blue groaned and threw himself back on the bed, PokeNav landing on his stomach with the camera facing the ceiling. He realized a little bit too late the implications of throwing his stitched head on a mattress, squeezing his eyes shut and praying his sister hadn’t heard him hiss.

"Of course not. It's hard not to, though."

"He can't know Team Rocket - or their copycat - is back. He just can't know yet. Make sure you keep your mouth shut."

"Yeah, whatever."

“Blue, I’m serious. I have no idea how this will affect him particularly. Up in Mount Silver he didn’t need to care about criminal organizations, but now that he’s back… You know him. He’ll-“

“He’ll stick his nose where he isn’t called, bring them down, and receive all the glory and fame he got ten years ago. Yes, Daisy, like I said before – whatever. I’m not tellin’ him. Fucking Moltres woman, trust me on this one!”

Blue clicked his tongue and sat up, looking down at Daisy’s pixelated face. Her frown grew deeper, her eyes doing that narrowing thing they did when she was about to nag him.

“I’m not worried about him taking them down, I’m worried about the impact. You know how Team Rocket fucked him.” 

He clenched his jaw as he felt a little dagger of anger being twisted just below his stomach. Oh yes, Team Rocket must have scared him so much. 

He looked fine after he beat Blue’s ass on the last floor of that damned Silph Co. building. Besides, why was Daisy so worried? It’s not like she cared how fucked up her brother had gotten after receiving little to no attention from his grandfather for most of his life – especially after he began his journey. So why did she seem so keen on a subject Blue had no idea of even existing?

Red came in there, screwed Giovanni over, and left with stronger pokemons and a high status on the Fame Checker forums.

Shit, his headache was coming back.

“No Daisy, I don’t. So if you could be so kind and enlighten me.” His voice came much hoarser than he meant to.

“Are you serious?! You were older than him! You have keen eyes Blue, don’t fuck with me and pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“Ah, was older than him? I’m no longer older?” he stubbornly answered, feeling his voice getting dryer and dryer with each word. Not even the fact he was nine months older than Red seemed to brighten his mood. The fact that he had stitches that hurt like bitch didn’t help either.

Daisy was growing furious with him.

“Can’t you take anything serious?! I thought you two were friends now! You freaking love-“

“Daisy.”

“Show some respect, at least!”

“Daisy, I literally don’t fuckin’ know what you’re on abo-“

Some rustling went on the other side of the line, cutting him off and making his lips purse as his hands gripped his pillow with far too much strength.

"Gotta go?"

"Ah- yeah. Old lady with a Butterfree.”

“Then by all means go. Don’t wanna keep you rambling.” He spat out the last word. He was such an asshole when he wanted to. It was obvious Daisy was holding in the desire to virtually bring her hand through the screen and punch him in the face.

“Goodbye, Blue. Hope some fresh hair refreshes your mind.”

“Whatever, Daisy. Just send me my fucking Venusaur already.”

She hung up. Blue leaned back with a sigh and let his hands rub his face, fingers reaching up to tug at this hair. Red hadn't heard. Thankfully, no awkward conversation would come, and perhaps he could coerce him into play a nice game of cards till the late hours of night. If he were lucky, Red would even act like a sore loser afterwards and refuse to play again, losing himself in some silly story Blue would tell and end up pressed against him one way or another.

He really needed to blow off some steam in a way that wouldn’t kill either of them. Perhaps he could forget all about the game and the cuddles and bring Mimikyu outside for a long walk through Malie City again. Arceus knew the little one comprehended him better than any pokemon of his ever had.

Such thoughts were quickly wiped out of his mind when the door opened a few seconds later. Eevee took one glance at Red and jumped out of the bed, running behind Blue's legs which here hanging off the bed. Mimikyu, who had at some point crawled out of the pokeball, followed suit with a distressed mutter.

When Blue looked up, he knew he had fucked up his and Daisy's arrangement. Red walked into the room with a tense body, his face hidden below his cap as his fists clenched on each side of his legs. He stopped in front of Blue, glaring down at him with a tightly closed jaw and a pale face. 

Red knew.

How much? Blue was scared to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, yeah. Let me just tell you: making Blue actually screw himself up was what saved me from writer block. On the first draft, he fainted from Pikachu's attack, got up like nothing happened after a while, and helped Red with Sandslash. And then fought with Guzma. And then there was a scene which would take place on another day involving him and Red. Needless to say, I hated the idea.  
>  This chapter took this long because I literally took a week off and wrote absolutely nothing for this fic. It was efficient, were it not for it I would hate this chapter to death. I also wouldn't know the differences between a minor head injury and a concussion were it not for this change, so I guess it helped in more ways than one.  
>  As for next chapter... It will be the longest so far, but won't take as much to write. Also, I'm sorry: I saw the chance for a cliffhanger and I took it.  
>  Btw, I'll spend the next two days revising all the chapters I've written so far! English isn't my first language, thus there were plenty of typos I only now got the eye to spot. Changing fonts really helps when it comes to editing, it seems... Also, I'm so sorry, only now did I noticed that ao3 fucked up the html and took the italics away from Red's speech and Blue's french (on the previous chapter). That will be fixed too.  
>  Anyway, thank you for reading this far! If you could leave a comment, that would be wonderful, but kudos are also pretty great.  
>  See you next chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'LL BE POSTING TWO CHAPTERS IN A ROW for the sole reason that I don't want two scene taking place on the same chapter. Just to warn you.
> 
> Also I know I have a few comments to answer to! Like heck, I didn't expect so many people commenting on chapter 8, holy shit. I'll get to it right after I post this! Also wanted to give a big welcome to all the new readers of this fic, you guys are amazing!
> 
> Anyway, I'll save the chatter for next chapter. You've waited enough. Good readings.

 A volcano erupts and, just like that, a whole town disappears. One can go on winning and losing in Pokemon, but if nature so much as twitches, they can be overwhelmed in a second. That’s the way it was… But, Blue was a trainer. Whatever made him feel that burning fire deep inside his chest as his stomach seemed to erupt in excitement just at the prospect of winning yet another battle was welcome.

 

 However, that intense feeling quickly dissipated once a brutal, uncontrollable force crossed his path and made him fall back into reality. If battles were his source of energy, then Red was probably the nature force which would suddenly wake and roar to make its presence known. Even if he didn’t actually make a sound like loud thunder did. But a storm didn’t really need to clash your ears to be scary, right? A precise bolt of light hitting an exact spot at a very specific angle could cause an entire village to go black, after all.

 

 And the worst? Nowadays, a storm was predictable. Blue really should have been more careful. He should have seen it coming. But he didn’t, because he was a complete fuck up at the environment’s will.

 

 He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. The growing lump on his throat was painful, the air cutting past the curtains was too cold, and his sudden desire to just leap out of the room was too intense. He closed his fists around his jacket – Red’s jacket – and stood up, trying to speak again but giving up when no words came to him.

 

 How much had he heard anyway? What was there even to say? True, it was just a minor thing that was probably irrelevant if you lived outside of Kanto, but Blue hadn’t told him. Red hated it when things were kept from him, even though he himself was a little bit reserved.

 

 Actually, scratch that. Red kept to himself, but Blue didn’t remember him ever hiding such a thing from him.

 

 He didn’t know what Red’s deal with Team Rocket truly was, but he was beginning to feel like maybe telling him would have been better. What did Daisy know, anyway? No matter what happened, Red would come back to Kanto and stay in town for at least a few hours. That would be enough time for his mind to catch up. A few mumbles here and there, maybe a few kids asking him if Venusaur was better, a conspiracy theory being formed around the corner, and _boom_. Red would find out. Red had already figured out, and he hadn’t even left Alola to begin with.

 

 Red knowing it from Blue would have been for the best. He should have known that.

 

 Blue looked up, his eyes focusing on the patterns of Red’s t-shirt as he took a deep breath. Red took a step back, unclenching his hands and letting them hang in the air, as if also unsure on what to say. Ah. Red would be the one initiating a conversation now. That was depressing.

 

_[You didn’t tell me.]_

 

 Blue gulped.

 

“Tell you what.”

 

 Red’s entire body was tense as he took a deep breath, his apparent self-control doing nothing to stop the nagging feeling pinching Blue’s stomach. Just like the calm before the storm. A heavy climate that turned your head into a mess and left you breathless.

 

_[Blue, I’m_ fucking _mute. Not deaf.]_

 

 If said in another context, this line would have probably made him laugh. But just the sight of both of Red’s hands bumping at least three times together while two fingers were raised as he signed _fucking_ was enough to make him look down in shame. He didn't want to argue with Red. They had come such a long way over the past two weeks! He didn't want to go back to their childish bantering. He didn't want for them to break down crying again, shouting things they shouldn't before Red ran off again and left him for good. His heart wouldn't be able to take it. His heart was never able to take it.

 

"Red, I... I know I should have told you, but Daisy told me not to-"

 

_[And since when do you listen to her?!]_

 

 Blue flinched, Red's words hitting him like a train and making him take one step back, the back of his knees hitting the bed frame.

 

_[Since when?!]_

 

"I was gonna tell you! After it was confirmed it was them and not some… _group_ of bored teenagers! C’mon Red, it’s not the end of the world. Don’t… Don’t fucking blame me for this.”

 

 His words came out much bigger than he himself was feeling at the moment. He felt even smaller when Red looked down, face hidden below his cap, hands shaky.

 

_[I trusted you.]_

 Blue’s mouth was dry as he bit his bottom lip and clenched his fists. He could feel his eyelids burning, but he held it in. He had to.

 

 Red pursed his lips, taking a shuddering breath. He brought one hand to his hair, clutching it below his cap, and Blue didn't know if he wanted to run or console him.

 

_[Your fault.]_

 

_I know._ His lungs were stuttering.

 

"Red?"

 

 Red shook his head, taking one deep breath. The room went silent. Blue watched as his rival, his best friend, his whatever they were and probably would never be again went completely still, calming himself before raising his head again.

 

 The look he gave him was enough to make Blue's whole body freeze as his blood ran cold. Red was the perfect picture of controlled ire, as if one wrong movement would set him ablaze and make him attack whoever was closest. His lips were pressed in a thin line, his jaw clenched as tightly as his fists as his eyes narrowed, the lamp hitting them in a way that made a small yellow tone reflect on his otherwise dark irises. Blue couldn't remember ever seeing him like this. He also couldn't grasp why this reaction, why was he so mad (for Blue not telling him? For the whole thing in general?). He just knew he had crossed some line and made Red truly despise him for once.

 

 He couldn't speak. Every word he thought of dissolved into nothing each time he opened his mouth. His body was frozen in place, save from the trembling hands. He was stuck. He felt like screaming. He always spat out so much crap, so why couldn’t his brain just flip off and let his mouth run free? Why couldn’t he say anything now that he desperately wanted to?

 

 If he thought the fight he and Red had before the bastard ran off to Mount Silver was bad, he wasn't remotely aware of how horrific this one was. At least before he had been ready. He had thought those words over and over again, only having to punch Red straight across his face to get the point through. At least before he didn't care so much for the man - or knew he did. At least before it didn’t feel so intimate.

 

 Now? Now he knew he would break if he didn't fix this fast. Now he didn’t know what to say, because this wasn’t about him and whenever a theme didn’t revolve around him, he was lost. He didn’t know what to do, he just knew he had to do it fast.

 

 Thankfully, Red finally broke eye contact. He gripped his cap and pulled it further down, turning around marching out of the room. Blue snapped to reality and coughed, trying to recover his voice.

 

"W-wait!”

 

 Red ignored him, hands clenched by his sides. Blue ran after him, passing the corridor, the kitchen, stepping out the front door and missing when he tried to grab Red’s arm. Red didn’t look back, only walking faster and crossing his arms.

 

“Fucking wait- Damn it! Just fucking listen to me!” he grabbed Red’s arm and was immediately shrugged off, as if his hand had burned Red or something. The man stopped though, so Blue took that as a victory.

 

"Just... What are you so mad at? Me not telling you? Them being back? What is it Red?! Y-you can't... You can't just glare at me and hope to get the message through!"

 

 Blue stammered back as Red suddenly turned harshly on his heels, fuming.

 

_[Shut up, you know perfectly well!]_

 

"I don't have a fucking crystal ball! Quit fucking around and just tell me what's wrong once and for all!"

 

_[You were there! You know!]_

 

 Red's signing became more frantic each passing second, his movements twitchy as he glared wide eyed at Blue, as if Blue truly was a stupid kid for not understanding what was going on. But he really didn't. He had no damn idea, and both Red and Daisy’s mentality that he should just read their minds and figure it out was tiring him.

 

_[You saw- you were the first person to see me then! You saw, you know-]_

 

"I saw what?! Silph Co?! Yeah, I fucking did! We battled before you went off the face Gio-“

_[YOU KNOW! DON'T MESS WITH ME!]_

 

 Red finally snapped, the clap of his hand echoing through the silent night and shit, Blue had to take a step back before the man truly lost his mind and punched him.

 

" _I'M NOT MESSING WITH YOU! I JUST DON'T FUCKING KNOW, OKAY?!"_

 

 They went quiet afterwards, Blue panting as Red clutched his cap with one hand as the other gripped at his own shirt. Blue felt his jaw tremble. He was so done with this. Why did people always assume he knew something? He wasn’t that smart. Younger Blue wasn’t even that keen eyed. Red was clearly mad at him, and it was slowly getting to his nerves. He just wanted to know. He just wanted people to stop getting mad at him for stuff that wasn’t his fault.

 

 The sudden realization that this was turning out just like _that night_ sunk into him, and he took a deep and sharp breath.

 

“I… I don’t know...”

 

 He felt his ego slightly crumble when he opened his mouth.

 

_Your pride will be the end of you_ , Blue's grandfather's voice echoed through his head. He cursed him and tried to say something before Red left to Arceus knows where.

 

“I don’t. But guess what? I- uh- I’m fucking trying here _. I am_. ”

 

 Red only looked up at him, eyes slightly watery. He stared for a long time, making Blue’s lungs weight with each hitching breath the longer the gaze went on; and for a moment, Blue really thought Red was finally going to trust him.

 

 However, fate was never at his side. Red simply exhaled and turned around, crossing his arms and beginning his walk away pace again, this time slower. Blue felt all his sympathy boil and evaporate, a weird fire exploding on his chest. One moment he was stuck on the ground; the other, he was grabbing Red’s shirt and flipping him around, glaring at the surprised eyes and puffy cheeks that answered him.

 

“Could you stop running away for one goddamn second?! You ran away from your title, you ran away from Pallet, you ran away back in the beginning of our trip after I told you _your own mother_ was worried about you, you’re running away from me now. Just- fucking _stop_ , will ya?!”

 

 He threw his arm back and watched as Red simply stared at him, not even bothering to answer or look away. It only set him on edge even further.

 

 With one huff, Blue stepped back and held in the need to scream, opting to convey all of his sudden hatred in a low tone. Yelling would only crack his voice, after all.

 

“You know what? Whatever. _Fine_. Be like that for all I care. You wanna solve your problems all by yourself? Peachy. Cool. Freaking epitome of amazingness. Go ahead. I don’t fucking care.”

 

 He turned on his heels and began to walk back towards the main door, making it a point to stomp down with each step.

 

“Honestly! I don’t know what I see in you sometimes. You’re… you’re impossible!”

 

 He didn’t look back. He marched up the wooden stairs, crossed the front door while ignoring the worried looks of Eevee and Mimikyu, and only stopped once Pikachu got on his way and talked gibberish at him. Blue only snarled and kicked at the ground, the sound of his foot hitting the floor enough to make Pikachu flinch and get out of the way. He walked into the kitchen and threw himself on a chair, letting one elbow rest on the room’s island as his head dropped on his hand. He felt like screaming.

 

 He moved his arm and let his head hit the table.

 

 But he wouldn’t cry. He was Blue Oak, and Blue wasn’t weak. He couldn’t be.

 

-

 

 Each passing second felt torturous.

 

 He had gotten out of bed at seven, restless and with only half an hour of sleep on him. He sat on the kitchen for full twenty minutes and did nothing, staring emptily at the patch of sun crossing the room and reflecting on the oven. The grandfather clock’s ticks were driving him up the wall though, so he got up and moved to the living room, turning on the television. Eevee crawled on top of the TV, eyes gluing on him and tail flickering in annoyance. He told it to shut up.

 

 Two hours later he was still flickering through the same four TV channels, sprawled on the couch with one arm laying on the armrest as his head rested on top of his hand. The sun had moved and was now boiling his legs, but he paid it no mind. Eevee was still giving him an icy stare, body curled as its tail draped in front of the screen just to set him off. He ignored it and settled on channel number three, the ARTL – Alolan Radio and Television Live. Or Life. That’s what he thought it stood for anyway; he had spent the last hour trying to make up a meaning for the acronym and that was the closest call after _Alola’s Regular Trash Lore_.

 

 That’s how bored he was. Making up conspiracy theories about a TV channel’s name. How had he sunk down so low?

 

_“And now the weather! Tell us, Kai, what can we expect today?”_

_“Well, Luana, Ula’Ula will have clear skies for most of the morning-“_

 

 And blah blah blah. The weather. Blue motherfucking Oak was watching the weather because he had nothing else to do with his pitiful life. And he still hadn’t taken his meds. Maybe he should just get up and take them, but they were too far away and he had no motivation whatsoever to go get them.

 

 He sighed and let his body sink lower on the couch, head falling on a pillow as his arm flopped down till his right hand hit the cold wooden floor. What was it with Team Rocket anyway? What was so special about them? Heck, Blue didn’t even know if Red was mad at him for not telling him, for them being back, or for a mix of the two. He just knew that the Rockets had apparently marked Red in some way and that Blue had completely missed it.

 

 He also didn’t remember half of what happened at Silph Company. He had faint memories of walking inside the building, talking to a few people, battling one grunt or another, making a scandal once he found out that the Rockets had complete control over the company…

 

 And then sirens busted through the speakers and the walls began to close. Blue had run, jumping over tables and knocking people out of his way as he tried to escape the building. He didn’t even remember where exactly he was trying to go – the exit, the teleportation squares which would take him straight to the first floor, some window to jump out of -, just that suddenly he was stuck.

 

 And then there was Giovanni. Just thinking about the man made Blue clench his teeth and kick at the couch, eyes focusing back on the screen. Thinking about it would only stress him, and apparently, stressing wasn’t good for his brain right now.

 

_“Malie City will have high chances of rain after five in the afternoon, and the temperatures will slightly decrease by two degrees-“_

 Blue groaned. Fuck it. Thinking upon it may stress him, but at least it wasn’t as boring as listening to this woman talking about rain and temperatures and whatever a low pressure center was.

 

He had gone to Giovanni after two good hours of being stuck inside the same corridor. He was frustrated, every noise made him jumpy, and more importantly? He was tired. Tired of doing nothing. So he turned around, took a deep breath, and marched inside Giovanni’s office like a champion.

 

 He remembered being turned down before the words ‘battle me’ even tipped out of his tongue. The image of Giovanni slowly petting his Persian, legs crossed and sharp eyes looking at him still sent a wave of nausea flowing through him. He was apparently too young and bratty for _mister fancy-pants-mafia-leader-jerk_ who only battled grown-ups or prodigies. Tsk, the bastard. Guess who ran his crumping and previously boring gym now.

 

 The memory brought a sour taste to his mouth. He had felt so humiliated. He walked out of the room, fists clenched and probably with the idea of forcing one more long training session upon his poor pokemons just out of spite. He was also pretty sure he would have cried if _one_ ,  there wasn’t a man standing on the hallway and _two_ , Red hadn’t appeared.

 

 Red. Red had flat out materialized in front of him, bug eyed and with his fair sticking out on every direction, his cap tipped back and his annoying Pikachu sticking out of his shoulder. He remembered his face in detail because it was the first time he had ever seen him like that.

 

 And then he had challenged him for a battle. If Giovanni didn’t give a shit about him, Red at least would. And of course Red won, which made Blue’s edging nerves simply jump out of the cliff. Just thinking about it made a small sample of the aguish he had felt bubble through his chest and pop at his throat.

 

 He had muttered something and turned to walk away. He faintly remembered Red grabbing his arm and spinning him around, eyes wider than before and giving him a weird look. Blue had been taken aback, but the ire he had felt was on such non proportional levels that he had just yanked his arm away and ran off. Next thing he knew, he was challenging gym leader Sabrina in blind rage and, surprisingly, receiving a badge. He still didn’t know how he managed to win against Sabrina while being completely out of himself.

 

 Perhaps the frustrating hours spent inside Silph Co. had been what made Red so jumpy?

 

 Ugh, this was giving him a headache.

 

_“-and for those who want to catch our beautiful ice type variations, this is just your lucky week! Mount Lanakila will have no precipitation till next Monday, although the temperatures will stay below 20 degrees Celsius.”_

 

 It sounded more like she was advertising the pokemons and wishing for a mass wave of tourists to crawl up the mountain than flat out informing about the weather, but the words “ice type variations” had stuck out. Those involved Vulpix and Ninetales, right?

 

 A door closing made him flinch on his seat. Blue shifted his eyes from the screen just in time to see Samson walking into the room while scanning through an agglomerate of boring looking papers.

 

“Good morning, Blue. You’re still here? Aren’t you and Red going to the Battle Tree today?”

 

 Oh, yeah, the man still didn’t know about Blue’s little accident. Blue gulped and shifted a little so that his head slowly moved to rest on top of his hand again, covering the place he had taken stitches on. It didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would.

 

“Uh, no, not today. We’re takin’ a day in. Ya know, to rest from all the heat and stuff.”

 

 Samson stopped in front of the couch and looked up from his papers, one brow arching perfectly as he eyed him with a mix of worry and suspicion.

 

“Your voice is a little rough. You alright? Got a cold?”

 

 Blue forced a smile and shook his head.

 

“Nah, I’m not lame enough to get a cold on summer. ‘M just tired.”

 

 Samson nodded to himself, mumbling something and looking around the room. He let his papers fall flat on the tiny table by the couch and moved to the window, drawing open the curtains and making Blue wince as the small patch of light became a river that hit all of his body.

 

“Is Red still asleep?”

 

 Did Red even sleep like a normal human being? Ever since they arrived, more often than not were the nights where Blue would wake up to stare at an empty bed rather than at Red’s sleeping form. Tonight had been no exception. Actually, tonight had been even more memorable, since Red hadn’t even bothered to go into the room.

 

“He’s outside, I think. Training Cubone or something.”

 

 Samson hummed.

 

“Well, go call him then. Today you two will eat a real breakfast, not some weird mix of ice cream and bread like you always do. Do you know how unhealthy that is? Even on vacation?”

 

“Uh, I don’t really- I mean, we’ve already eaten-“

 

“Lies. Every time you eat, my kitchen becomes a mess. It’s unnaturally tidy today, Blue, don’t fool me. So tell me, are you a tea or coffee person?”

 

“Uncle, I can take care of myself! Besides, I’m not hungry-“

 

“You’re as thin as a branch! Go call him, I don’t want your grandfather accusing me of starving you!”

 

“Fine!” Blue finally shout, rising to his feet so quickly his vision blacked out. Samson gave him a tiny victorious smile and began to walk towards the kitchen, waving behind his shoulder and telling him to get going.

 

 And so Blue forcibly went, stomach growling in appreciating as his mouth cussed at the situation. However, something on the back of his mind told him that his uncle was just doing this because he knew something was wrong.

 

-

 

 To say the situation was tense was lessening how bad it actually was. Not even the background noise of the television seemed to unthicken the air. The sound of silver hitting the plate mixed with the silly voice of carton characters, Samson having given up on making them speak after a few minutes of useless small talk.

 

 Blue was slowly munching down his food, a rather bitter thing that surprisingly tasted nice. His cup of tea sat untouched in front of him, the sugar thrown aside. Eevee was nowhere to be seen, the same going for Pikachu. At first glance, Red didn’t even seem much different from his typical, unresponsive self. But Blue knew better. He was gripping his fork tighter, his eyes were focused on his plate instead of wandering through the room, his chair was pulled away from Blue’s by far more inches than necessary, and he hadn’t said a word to him. Not even an acknowledgment glance.

 

 Seriously, what an asshole. As if it was Blue’s fault.

 

_It is your fault. He said so._

 

 Shut up, brain.

 

Samson finally snapped and placed down his fork, giving Red a glare so icy Blue could swear it pierced through Red's soul and made the man think he was back on Mount Silver. Red almost gagged on his food.

 

"Did you hurt my nephew?" Samson said in a low tone, the same one his grandfather would use every time he asked Blue if he had broken a window or an expensive piece of china again.

 

 Red shook his head so quickly Blue could swear it would fly off. And just as Blue was about to discreetly mock him for acting like a scared Skitty, the cold gaze fell on him. Blue audibly gulped.

 

"Did you hurt my other nephew?" Samson said, his voice no less threatening, although his features softened a little.   _A little_. Blue was quickly realizing why Red got so fidgety.

 

"Uh- no. I don't think so. Nope, nah-nah, why would you say that?"

 

"So you did."

 

"No! I- crap, _he started it_!"

 

 Red's head snapped to the side as he too glared at him, as if saying _I started it_? Blue turned to him.

 

"Well yeah you did! If ya just quit getting your nose in other people's lives, you would have never listened to it and we would never be having this conversation!"

 

 Red gripped his fork tighter and scowled, switching a glance between him and Samson before dropping his shoulders in defeat and lowering his eyes. Blue huffed and rolled his eyes, pointing with his spoon at him.

 

"What? If ya got something to say, say it."

 

 Red's scowl only deepened as he shook his head.

 

 Ah. Red never talked much when other people were around. What did Blue expect, honestly?

 

"So you two _are_ arguing!" Samson broke the tension, almost making Blue jump. He may not have jumped, but he was pretty sure some of his malasada had gotten into his cup of tea.

 

"Well-"

 

"Lunala be blessed, what happened?"

 

 Both of them looked away, Blue crossing his arms and doing his best not to act like a petulant child. It probably didn’t work.

 

 Fucking hell, this was getting ridiculous.

 

“Well?” Samson said, looking between them.

 

“Red’s a punk bitch who thinks I can read his mind.”

 

 The _punk bitch_ in question stepped on his foot and made him shriek, his head snapping to the side.

 

“Seriously?!”

 

“Boys-“

 

 Red got up, looking in Blue’s general direction to sign “I’ll be training” before walking out of the room, not sparing it another glance. Blue groaned and threw himself back on the table.

 

“See? Not my fault.”

 

“Blue.”  


“What?!”

 

 Okay, he needed to control himself. He scrunched his eyes and brought one hand to his face, massaging his temples. When that didn’t work, he simply took one deep breath and let his head hit the table with a loud thud, some tea spilling on the wooden surface due to the force of the impact.

 

 “Blue, what happened?”

 

“Nothing.” He answered far too quickly, hiding his face between his arms. Crap, crap, crap.

 

“Nothing is subjective. Just-“

 

“It’s nothing!”

 

 He was holding in his breath now. Samson sighed and moved away, going somewhere on the left and rummaging through a cabinet.

 

“It’s never nothing. But you want to know something? Most problems aren’t that important. When you look back, rare are the things that truly mark your future. Here,” a glass of water was set in front of him. When had Samson opened the tap? “Take it and calm yourself. If it can be solved with a talk, it’s not that bad.”

 

 Blue darkly chuckled and placed two fingers on the glass, watching the water intently.

 

“Talking did nothing. I’m starting to think a punch in the face solves far more than a few words.”

 

“Hey, if you wanna get violent, at least challenge him for a battle. Giving him a sore cheek is useless.”

 

“Right.”

 

 Samson fixed his eyes on him for long seconds, the same way he did whenever he was studying an important report about pokemon behaviour. After a while, the man just sighed again and sat by his side, slapping Blue’s back with a little too much force and making him jump.

 

“C’mon, tell your favourite uncle what’s bothering you.” Samson said with a smile.

 

 Remembering what he had said to Sun, about how speaking to a stranger tended to be easier, Blue just groaned and let his head hit the table again.

 

“Do I really have a choice?”

 

“No, no you don’t.” Samson said with a smile far too large to be considered guilty.

 

-

 

  Blue stepped out of Malie City as the sun began to set, a bag of potions and ice heals between his arms as Eevee followed him with a bored look. A fresh breath of air did him good, the tension slowly evaporating from his body as he took a walk around the city (and battled at least three kids for fun; no one said he couldn’t do so, just that he couldn’t spend the day battling, thank you).

 

 Besides, Samson himself had basically kicked him out and told him to only come back when his mind was cleared, so he couldn’t exactly return home after an hour of brooding. He was thankful his uncle had done so, though, since between spending an afternoon walking around or gluing his eyes on an old TV screen, his choice was obvious.

 

 He had even managed to get a map of Mount Lanakila, where his sister’s future Vulpix was eagerly waiting. So now not only was he able to not combust into a pile of nerves, he also had a plan for tomorrow.

 

 He just had to tell Red to get ready by 7am.

 

-

 

Blue was always a pretty anxious person, despite the rough exterior. He used to cover every single one of his insecurities with a sweet anger coated with salty arrogance and loud, self-proclaimed amazingness. Nowadays, he went for jokes.

 

 However, it had been a while since he truly felt his head being crushed with tension as his heart threatened to explode from his ribs. The feeling was agonizing. He couldn't even speak, much less make eye contact. He tried to blame the stitches, and tried even harder to blame the meds for his racing heart, but he knew better than that.

 

 Don't take him wrong, he was still mad. He hated the fact that Red was giving him the silence treatment for something that wasn't (entirely) his fault. Or, at least he thought it wasn't. But the fact that he couldn't even get Red to look at him was turning him into a pile of nerves.

 

 He thought the worst had been the trip between Malie City and the base of the mountain. But between looking out the bus’ window while chatting with a few kids and having to walk miles without speaking with your companion, the former one was much more appealing. Besides, scaling up a mountain to find a Vulpix was killing him. And they had done the first half by while sitting in another crammed bus as an old lady basically pushed his body flush against Red’s, so he really wasn’t understanding why a walk was making him feel worse than that.

 

"Red."

 

 His voice sounded foreign to his ears. Red’s pace didn’t change, his feet sliding on the snow as he urged his little Cubone forwards, the creature clearly having never seen snow on its life. Despite the snow, Red was wearing nothing more than a thin white shirt and a varsity black jacket, hands fitted on his trousers’ pockets. His cap was, for once, tipped back, the tip of his ears red from the cold. The other weird thing was the lack of yellow mouse on his shoulder.

 

 Blue gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the decreasing temperatures, clasping his hands around his arms and cursing over the fact that he chose ripped jeans instead of normal ones. At least he had a jacket - or rather, he stole one. If Red was being a little bitch, he could at least let Blue borrow his weird green and yellow clothing. It was his fault Blue had stitches on his head and was on meds anyway.

 

"You’ll keep up with that? Seriously?"

 

 Red said nothing.

 

 Blue just clenched his fists and screamed out an exasperated sigh, stomping just to show his point. He marched up the mountain and pushed Red as he passed him, just out of spite, a chorus of words leaving his mouth.

 

"Fucking whatever, man! Keep on behaving like a prissy seven year old!"

 

 He could feel Red's eyes on the back of his skull, but he ignored them just to show he was having none of this bullshit. In a blind fit of frustration at the whole thing, he grabbed Pidgeot's pokeball and let the beast out.

 

 He smothered the pokemon’s feathers and sighed, muttering _Vulpix_ under his breath. Pidgeot nodded and, giving him one last _you-take-five-years-outta-my-life-every-time-you-sulk_ look, it took flight. With his little birdie by his side, catching a blue fox from heaven would be easier.

 

 He took one step forward and stopped, fists still clenched as his mind ran miles per second. Wouldn’t this be running away? Wasn't Blue supposed to be more mature?

 

 Taking a sigh while holding in the desire to flip his shit, Blue slightly turned his body so that he could take a full glance at Red. Red, who now had his Cubone pressed between his arms and quickly changed his curious gaze to a more impartial, indifferent one upon noticing Blue staring. Doing his best to not glare, Blue swallowed dryly and spoke, voice not as level as he would like.

 

"The match's still open. Get the beast first, and _hurray_ for you. But remember, I'm always a step ahead. And if I win, you’ll stop for a second and talk to me."

 

 Red did nothing. He simply stared, wind blowing on his face and making small strands of dark brown hair dance above his eyes, which were marred from the heavy bags underneath them. From here, Blue could see the red spot on the tip of his nose from the cold (Red's body didn't like temperature changes, apparently), the way he was holding his Cubone with all the coolness in the world despite the clear discomfort written all over his hunched back, and most importantly, how he was finally not avoiding his gaze.

 

 And he tipped his cap again, turning it so that it shadowed half of his face. He tipped and fiddled with it the same way he did when a random stranger approached him; the same way he did when he was under intense glares; the same way he did when he and Blue first arrived to Alola. He had stopped doing that around him. He only messed with his hat during a battle now. It was as if a little argument had made him lose all trust on him.

 

 Clicking his tongue, he turned around and waved over his shoulder.

 

"Smell ya later, Red."

 

-

 

 He wasn’t counting on Mount Lanakila to be so big. Hours seemed to pass as he walked up and down the mountain, no Vulpix in sight. At some point, he had ended up inside a cave – a cave which almost made his Eevee evolve due to some huge Ice Rock, like, seriously, couldn’t he have one normal day for once -, only to find out his Vulpix didn’t live in there. He also wasn’t expecting to get tired so easily, nor for his meds to take way his pain but do nothing about the annoying itch on the back of his head.

 

 But, you know, when you send your Pidgeot after a pokemon, you at least have a guarantee that if it finds what you’re looking for, it’s yours. And you also know it will take a while to get to the spot your bird is at, but with the previous thought in mind, you’re cool with it. And even though you know anyone can technically catch the pokemon you’re after, no matter how much guarding Pidgeot does, everyone has to common sense and courtesy to let _you_ catch it. Not to mention you also expect you own Pidgeot to defend your new poke-friend from whoever tries to take it away from you.

 

 So arriving at the spot and dealing with Pidgeot casually cleaning its feathers while Red sat against a rock and casually went through his pokedex was something Blue didn’t particularly expect. He also didn’t expect to have _his_ Vulpix, a Vulpix _his_ Pidgeot had spotted, being stolen so blatantly. Because courtesy rules existed. But years up on Mountain Isolation had apparently cleared Red of all manners.

 

 And the worst? Red didn’t even look bothered. Actually, the man gave him one glance and smirked. The asshole _smirked_.  After a whole morning of ignoring him.

 

_[What was that about always being a step ahead?]_

 

“You- You petty, salty asshole! That’s mine! Give me!”

 

 Red only shrugged and went back to scanning his pokedex, Cubone running in circles around him.

 

“You can’t just steal my pokemon like that! What the fuck Red! Let’s go to a Center and trade, that’s mine by right!”

 

 Red didn’t bother looking at him, though Blue was pretty sure he was holding back a grin.

 

“And you!” he turned towards Pidgeot, who chirped in response “Why did you let him catch it?!”

 

 Pidgeot shook its body a cucked, looking away.

 

“C’mon!” Blue kicked at the ground “Red, it’s mine by right, don’t be an asshole. “

 

_[I caught it first. It’s mine, I win.]_

 

“Seriously?! What are you? Five?”

 

 Red shrugged. He stared at his pokedex for a tiny bit longer and got up, brushing snow out of his pants and beginning to walk again. Blue called back his Pidgeot and stomped on the ground, kicking at the snow.

 

“Red! Look at me- not, we’re not going away until you give me that pokemon- _agh_! For real?! That’s so uncool of you! See, this is exactly why I called you a punk bitch yesterday.”

 

 Red looked back at him, face blank as he shrugged. Blue gritted his teeth and stopped death on his tracks, an idea on how to solve this forming in his mind.

 

He looked at Red, straight in the eyes for five full seconds while reaching for his pokeballs. Red’s breath hitched and he looked around, eyes settling back on him with a tilt of his head.

 

“Yes, right here, right now. Or did Alola smoother you?”

 

 At that Red’s whole body tensed, his face dropping into pure annoyance as he reached for his hat and pulled it back. His eyes were focused his as he straightened his back, one hand blindly reaching for the first pokeball on his belt and twirling it between his fingers. Blue smirked and raised his hand, tilting his head in feign innocence.

 

“That Vulpix’s gonna be mine, pal. Better prepare for a trip to the PokeCenter for a trade.”

 

 Red’s glare didn’t subside as he signed.

 

_[Bring it.]_

 

 And both pokeballs were thrown up, light flashing and reflecting on the snow before two heavy beasts collided with it, making the ground vibrate.

 

“Better of three?” Red nodded.

 

 And all of his confidence was quickly pushed down the mountain as the battle started.

 

It shouldn't frustrate him so much. This was a pokemon battle, and pokemon battles were supposed to be his safe space. A space where none of his life problems bothered him.

 

 But soon enough reality proved to be very different from theory. Each time Snorlax evaded one of Arcanine’s attacks felt like a needle piercing through his skin, accompanied by another and another and one more as the battle progressed. Red and his team were like water, flowing through the battlefield and freezing up when time to defend came, only to boil right after and charge at the right time. Blue couldn’t even stop to think, he had to move, had to push forward, had to take a chance before his chances were taken away. It vaguely felt like battling a storm with only a cape and rubber boots for protection.

 

 One particularly harsh Wild Charge sent Arcanine to his feet, motionless and with its fur far to grizzly to be considered healthy. He cursed and changed, throwing Alakazam’s ball up and glaring at it in an attempt to convey his thoughts. It must have worked, because Alakazam simply rolled its eyes and stared up ahead, slouching.

 

 The battle kept going. Red effortlessly moved Snorlax through the snow, making it dodge and attack with off key timing which surprisingly worked well. Just like always. Just like the pretty little wonder boy he was. It made Blue’s stomach churn.

 

 It wasn’t like Blue was awful at battling, far from it. Sometimes, a reckless chain of attacks did it. It was just that Red was abnormally good at reading him and his team. He knew the difference between a flamethrower and a powerful fireball and how to take each; he knew when Arcanine was about to jump back and attack or jump back and dodge; he knew when Blue was about to switch out and he pressed, making it impossible for Blue to walk out of the battle without hurting his pride.

 

 It was unnerving, really. It made Blue’s teeth clench as his nails dug into his palms, his body trembling in anger. The fact that Red wasn’t even bothered, his face pulled into one of his permanent impartialities as he moved left and right in rhythm with Snorlax, only made it worse. The ire Blue still felt against Daisy, Kanto, and everything that made him and Red fight two nights ago was just bundling up inside of him, blowing away all rational thoughts as he shouted attacks and doomed his Alakazam to one more failed launch.

 

 Red was unnerving. Especially when he too was fighting as if the whole battle was about a world problem instead of a simple white fox. It was ridiculous. They were ridiculous. To think they were starting to get along, that Blue had gotten his hopes up,… It was just too fucking ridiculous.

 

 He screamed out a Psychic, not even registering that hey, perhaps Alakazam is too close to Snorlax to make it. It had the element of surprise though, and that was enough. Alakazam did as it was told, hitting Snorlax with a huge wave of pressure which finally put the huge beast down for good. Red clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes, eyeing his panting Alakazam like a Houndoom eyed its prey. He then tilted his head and momentarily looked at Blue in the eyes, calling out Lapras. Blue fucking hated Lapras and anything to do with its voice and its stupid high accuracy.

 

 Memories of when he and Red got stuck on an island after losing the ferry flashed by his mind, making his heart clench painfully as he remembered being crumpled on top of the pokemon with Red for at least an hour. Ah. Apparently those moments didn’t matter anymore, because Team Rocket out of everyone in the world was more important than him.

 

 He almost screamed in frustration when Alakazam got hit by an ice shard, the move locking its leg against the snow and making it unable to move. Blue cursed and dug through his bag for an ice heal. Alakazam only stared back at him, one hand raised as its finger pointed up. Blue’s eyes followed it, widening at the idea.

 

 Yeah, they could do that. If they couldn’t take Lapras out by sheer psychic force, they would do it by sheer psychic panic.

 

 It was relatively quick. Blue tossed the ice heal and watched as Alakazam freed itself, one arm already raised. Then, just as the wind peaked, Lapras’ body moved up and began to float above the snow while flailing. With a rather forced smirk, Blue watched as Lapras began to grow more and more distressed, the fact that it never had been above the ground making it panic and unable to go forward with any attack. Take that, mister perfect.

 

“Wrap it up _, Abra_.”

 

  Maybe it was too bold of them, but Blue wouldn’t miss this chance. He knew the risks of keeping Lapras in the battlefield for too long. That pokemon was dangerous, especially when it sung.

 

 So Alakazam focused all of its energy in one last attack, while half of its attention was on keeping the opponent in the air. And in a blink it unleashed its power, throwing a not so precise but still effective Focus Blast against Lapras.

 

 Lapras didn’t stand a chance, not even with the fact that it too was a psychic type. Red switched it out, biting his lip.

 

 Blue felt his vision distorting as a sharp pang of pain struck him, one hand jumping to the back of his head. Shit. All this tension wasn’t having a positive effect on him. He also forgot to bring his painkillers with him. Crap. He managed to focus his eyes back on Red, who was looking at him with knitted eyebrows and a stern gaze. Blue waved him off, teeth clenching.

 

 The pain subsided and turned into an uncomfortable itch as he focused back on the battle. It didn’t stop. Blastoise was out and already attacking, roaring and taking everything that appeared in front of it. With one water blast, it landed a far too critical hit on Alakazam, the pokemon almost falling from exhaustion. He cussed and screamed back an order, falling into rhythm again. _Attack, attack, attack._

 

 Alakazam was panting though, already tired from all the mental projections it had been doing since the beginning. It wouldn’t stand a chance, and Blue could still use one more pokemon if he just switched for the moment-

 

 Red’s arm moved. Shit, Blue hesitated for too long. Hydro Pump. Alakazam’s eyes widened as the breath was knocked out from its lungs, its frail body hitting the floor.

 

  _Shit, shit, shit,_  why now? He was so close! He had even stopped to think back then! Couldn’t he win for once? Just for once? Who would he even use next? Maybe he should go for the type advantage? Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

 

 Only that when he threw the pokeball, it wasn’t Exeguttor who jumped out. Blue’s blood froze, his legs and arms paralyzed. Hadn’t… Hadn’t he switched it out last time he was at a PokeCenter? No. No, this couldn’t be happening.  Machamp had never won against any of Red’s pokemons, so why now of all times did Blue forget how to switch pokeballs?

 

 He realized too late that his hesitation had showed. Red didn’t miss a beat, and soon enough Machamp was being knocked down with a sudden tackle, the poor guy caught out of guard as it was looking back at Blue in confusion. Blue cussed _. C’mon, move move move. Just land a punch, you’re a fighting type._

 

 Machamp did lay a punch. It just wasn’t enough. Blastoise’s defence was absurdly high.

 

 Blue bit the inside of his cheek, hands trembling from how tight they were clasped. His vision was going red in rage, and he probably shouldn’t be trusting his pissed off instincts so much, but fuck. He just couldn’t stand it. It was as if he was a kid again! He hadn’t felt this stressed at a pokemon battle in ages.

 

 Pokemon battles were supposed to be his safe space. Not a space that almost gave him asthma from how hard it was getting to breathe. And it was all Red’s fault.

 

_Have you two talked yet_?,  his uncle’s voice boomed through his ears. He cringed inwardly. Pokemon battles also didn’t need to make him think of unnecessary drama.

 

“Fucking hell just smash ‘em down!” he yelled, his voice unrecognizable to his own ears. Machamp only growled in response, going for an attack again.

 

 It didn’t work. Actually, it failed so badly, Blastoise managed to counter it and efficiently knock Machamp out. As always. Because what else was expected of Red and his insanely strong team, right? It was as if faith had placed Blue in the world just to be the other’s annoying rival who would always give a fight, but never fight hard enough to win. It was as if they were in a videogame where Red was the hero and Blue the worthless, good for nothing antagonist.

 

 Honestly. He didn’t know what he saw in Red sometimes. It couldn’t all be his good looks, but hell, when they were battling? It was as if the man turned into a demon. Part of his brain kindly supplied that he loved that part of him too.

 

 Blue cursed inwardly at his off-handed thoughts and bit his bottom lip so hard he was sure it was bleeding. He didn’t care though. It wasn’t as if the pain was worse than the one he was feeling on his head, anyway. He just threw Pidgeot’s pokeball up, the pokemon landing gracefully on the snow and looking back at him like a grandma looking down at her bratty grandson. Blue clicked his tong and mouthed out a ‘ _what’_ , to which Pidgeot responded by cucking and narrowing its eyes, looking ahead almost tiredly.

 

 Pidgeot was always weirdly wise for a normal, bird type. And quite frankly? It was something Blue appreciated, because heck, who better for precise and quick attacks than Pidgeot? Besides, his team needed a strong pillar to rely on, and Pidgeot was said pillar. But sometimes, its whole intellectual level and keen eyes were unnerving.

 

 Blue could definitely feel his lip burning now. Well shit.

 

 He brought one hand to his mouth and wiped the blood off. He needed to calm down. This was just a battle for a fucking Vulpix, nothing more. This battle was no different from any other. It was just pretty, silly old Red standing on the other side, with his dark yet sparkling eyes which occasionally landed on his with far too much concern for someone who should be mad at him. _It is just a battle,_ Blue told himself.

 

 It was a battle that made him remember how bad the past two days had been. Blue cursed. When his uncle had sat by his side the previous day, he had felt light headed. He had felt as if it wasn’t that important, like he and Red’s problems weren’t that deep. But now? Now he felt like losing this battle was… Was…

 

 Was like losing Red for good too.

 

_“Well of course I tried talking to him! And ya know what? It didn’t work. He’s too freaking dense for normal human interaction.”_

_“No, Blue, I mean really talking. Not hoping he would see your side while he asks why you aren’t seeing his. Not getting carried away and ending up screaming. I mean actually sitting down and solving it out.”_

_“I-“_

_“No. Let me finish. I may not have raised you – or spent that much time with you for the matter -, but I’ve noticed something. Actually, I’ve noticed many things, about the two of you. And you, my nephew, never say what you truly want to say._ Your pride’s gonna be the end of you someday _, so instead of trying to either save your skin or act like someone you aren’t, why don’t you try being honest? Just for a few minutes?”_

_The words had made Blue’s body freeze. His pride would be the end of him. His grandfather had told him those words countless times in the past, but hearing them coming from Samson’s mouth was different. It made him feel like he had disappointed him in some way. It made him feel bad. He could handle his grandfather saying them, but his uncle? Not so much._

_“You’re callin’ me a liar?”_

_“No. I’m saying you’re afraid of saying the truth.”_

_“I’m not-“_

_“Ah, Blue, you’re just like your grandfather sometimes.”_

 Like hell he was. He focused his eyes back on the battle, taking a deep breath to compose himself. Blastoise, right? Blastoise’s defence was its shell. So Pidgeot only had to focus on hitting the head or the stomach.

 

 It would be easier if Red hadn’t thought about that too, ordering Blastoise to lay low and hide its softer parts. Blue felt like tearing his hair out. Instead, he looked up at Pidgeot and ordered it to jump at any chance it got. Pidgeot nodded, eyes never leaving Blastoise.

 

 A weak spot. They just needed a weak spot.

_“Don’t compare me to him when you’re the one coming at me with the pride talk.”_

_“Blue- ah. It is true. Both of you are too stubborn and find problems where there are none. You should learn how to take it easy, you know? Besides, this is Alola. You should be concerned on whether or not you put on enough sunscreen, or if the pokemon you picked for this battle was the best choice. Not if you’ll still be friends after this.”_

_“Well, if he just talked to me, things would be much easier! Do you know how- how…”_

_“How hard you try sometimes?” Samson smiled “Yeah, we all do._ He _knows. But sometimes, one can’t just try.”_

_“What then?”_

_“You have to take it to the end.”_

 

_“I don’t understand.”_

 

_“I think you do. If you try.”_

 There. Pidgeot reacted quicker than Blue could shout, diving in Aerial Ace and slashing directly across Blastoise’s chest. Blastoise growled and stumbled back, falling on its back. Blue took the opportunity and finished it with whirlwind, Blastoise finally staying down for good.

 

 Red’s distressed face as he switched Blastoise out didn’t help him calm down. And when Red called out Charizard, a Charizard which evolved from his grandfather’s Charmander, a Charmander which should be his instead because he was Oak’s direct family and not Red, Blue could swear he would just explode like he did many times during his childhood years.

 

 He managed to swallow it down. What the hell was he thinking, anyway? It wasn’t Red who he should be mad at. It’s not like Red even knew about Samuel Oak’s taste when it came to picking the best grandson. Blue wondered how Red would react if he ever did one plus one and figured it out.

 

 Ah. He would probably just turn around and pretend it was nothing with him. As he always did.

_“What if he runs away again?”_

_“He won’t. He probably wants to solve this as much as you do.”_

 

_“How can you be so sure? You don’t know him.”_

_“Would he get so mad at you if he didn’t like you too? I mean, I know I’m probably not the best person to give you advice – my area of expertise is pokemon, not people – but Blue, c’mon. No one likes to be angry.”_

_Blue had hesitated then, staring down for large seconds before finally taking a deep breath._

_“Can… Can I ask you something, then?”_

_“Sure, go ahead.”_

_“Have you… have you ever hidden something from someone, uncle? Something important.”_

_“Why, of course! Everyone has secrets.”_

_“What if the secret didn’t involve you- no, actually, scratch that. What if you didn’t ever know why it was a secret in the first place?”_

_“Ah, that’s a tough one. If you don’t even know why a secret is a secret… It probably means you weren’t paying enough attention to know its importance. Or maybe you’ve just missed an important piece of information, and were never able to take it back.”_

_“Oh, congrats, I hadn’t thought about it that way at all!”_

_“Blue, watch your tongue. I believe you’re asking the wrong question here. Why don’t you find out what you really wanna know first?”_

 

_“I wanna know why he’s so mad! Is that so hard to grasp? Why won’t no one tell me?!”_

_“You think I know? Ask him.”_

_“I would if he just spoke to me!”_

 

_“Have you even tried speaking to him after your argument?”_

_“Well, no. But I’m always chasing him around when it comes to- when it comes to-_ you know _. So him coming to speak with me would be nice for a change.”_

 It didn’t matter where Pidgeot flew off to, Charizard’s fire always seemed to get to it. Blue wanted to blame the wind, but damn, if it was the wind, Tornadus must be having one hell of a funny day messing around with him and his team. There was just no way Charizard’s fire could always hit Pidgeot. Charizard’s accuracy was poor, and the pokemon itself was kinda dumb. Not because it was a Charizard, of course. It was just that its egg must have fallen a lot of times for it to be born like that.

 

 However, what Charizard lacked on strategy was quickly overwhelmed by Red’s ability to have his eyes everywhere: on his pokemon and how it moved around in the snow without taking flight; on Blue’s Pidgeot, who was getting more tired each passing second; on Blue himself, and how increasingly temperamental he was getting; on the weather, and how the melted snow would affect each of his moves.

 

 When it came to being aware of surroundings, no one beat Red. And Red was just as reckless at taking chances as Blue was. It was probably the scariest part of battling him, and the main reason so many people lost to him. They just became a bundle of nerves and stress as the battle proceeded and Red exploited their weaknesses, putting a non-existent pressure on their shoulders which would quickly dissipate if they just focused as well.

 

 But who was Blue to talk? He himself was being greatly affected by Red’s crappy battle style. He gritted his teeth.

 

 Pidgeot didn’t last for too long. In a blink, it was falling off the sky, feathers burnt and beak scratched.

 

 And Red didn’t slow down. He just stared emptily at him now, any compassion he may have had before dissipating.  He wasn’t even giving the worried eyes anymore. Blue shouldn’t even be the one getting worked up! Red was the one who had stolen his Vulpix, the same way Red was the one refusing to talk, the same way Red was the one twitching a knife on his heart without even realizing.

 

 Red, Red, Red. He was getting really tired of it. He just wanted to go back home, take some painkillers and sleep.

_“And what? You’ll wait for five more years until you realize none of you will step up? You’ll blame each other while sitting on a rock and doing nothing? I know how frustrated you are, and I also know how it is to feel like you’re the only one trying, but think. Use your head. You wanna know something, boy?”_

 

 Blue gritted his teeth, muttering his uncle’s words under his breath.

_“It doesn’t matter who starts it as long as the problem is fixed.”_

 

 Right. Whatever.

 

 Next had followed a whole hour of Samson discovering his stitches and fussing over him, nagging him for being reckless and having agreed to go and explore some suspicious looking cave. Blue had just sheepishly looked down as the theme of the conversation shifted from stitches to meds to how he should be more careful and, finally, to some weird teenage memory of his uncle that involved the man breaking his leg over a pokemon card.

 

 It had been a good hour. He really, really liked uncle Samson.

 

 He shook his head. Now he had to focus on this battle. He brought one hand down to his belt, ready to throw his Dusk Ball, when he suddenly stopped altogether.

 

 No. That ball… It was Mimikyu’s. He wouldn’t bring Mimikyu into this. The pokemon wouldn’t be able to keep up with him or his mood right now, nor with a huge fire breathing lizard like Charizard. Blue was mad, but he wasn’t that mad.

 

 

 

 With a sigh, he moved his hand, grabbing another one and twirling the dark ball over his palm. He eyed it with unfocused eyes. Eevee was a wild ride. He wasn’t if sure if it could face Charizard without bugging its eyes out and accusing Blue of attempted murder. But one thing was certain: it was a better choice.

 

 Eevee also was pretty easy to riddle up. Blue shouldn’t have a problem with that.

 

 Not wasting any more time, he threw the ball up. Eevee, surprisingly, didn’t question him. The tiny pokemon just lowered on its paws and hissed, its fur raised as its eyes fitted Charizard with a murderous intent. Well at least someone was going along with his temper. It was comforting in a way.

 

 Attack was thrown after attack. What Charizard had in brute force was quickly overwhelmed by Eevee’s high speed. A slash of its tail here, a fire attack there. Eevee jumped out of the way, and when it did get hit, it just moved away and resumed attacking.

 

 Blue was really fucked up for calming down by remembering a cheap soap opera motivational speech as his spoiled princess tore the battlefield in half, mirroring Blue’s previous anger. It was working though, and he found himself getting more and more into the battle.

 

 He could do it. He would do it. He took a deep breath.

 

 Charizard. Okay, focus. Charizard wasn’t smart. It probably had no training outside of Mount Silver. Charizard didn’t know what to do with attacks that weren’t straight forward, its lizard brain apparently incapable of understand out of the box thinking. To sum up, the most kantonian pokemon to ever kanto.

 

 A little nudge, a little poke. Although Red was calm, Charizard sure wasn’t. Eevee kept on dodging, puking out shadowballs whenever the situation let it and slowly draining the energy from Charizard. It was a wonder to watch.

 

 Just a little more dedication. Charizard’s attacks were growing clumsier as tension poured down its body, and if Blue poked just a tiny bit further-

 

 There. There it was. Charizard finally snapped, ignoring Red’s orders and cloaking itself on fire, charging forward like a wild Taurus. Red’s eyes widened as he bit his lip and, finally, broke his neutral stance to look at Charizard in pure indignation which tipped the line of anger, hands clenching into fists.

 

 Blue realized too late he had no idea what to do. Hours seemed to pass as he watched Charizard charging at slow motion. He had expected it to let its guard down and end up screwing up and attack. He wasn’t expecting it to completely ignore whatever the hell Red was ordering it to do, going in for such a powerful attack out of a sudden.

 

 Eevee had rubbed the wrong vein and Blue had incentivised it. Shit.

 

 In panic, he shout the first thing that came to his head.

 

“JUMP!”

 

 And so Eevee did. It took one step back and, just as Charizard was about to get on its personal space, it jumped high in the sky like a compression spring. Charizard ran straight below it, not managing to even touch Eevee (thankfully).

 

 Only problem was that Blue was on the line of the attack. Arcues truly must hate him.

 

 He took in a deep breath, feet glued on the ground. Charizard was so fucking huge, and it was coming straight at him, and oh shit he couldn’t move he just couldn’t. Was he going to be sent to the hospital again, oh no-

 

 Light filtered through the air just as Charizard got too into his space. White light. It was called back.

 

 Wind gushed past Blue’s face and made his hair wave back along with his jacket. He stare ahead, bug eyed. Red was mirroring his expression, one arm raised with a pokeball tightly gripped between his hand as one leg stood in front of his body, as if he had been ready to run towards Blue.

 

 Just the thought of being hit by that made him shiver.

 

“Your Charizard is out of commission. It’s defeated, and it doesn’t enter this battle anymore, got it?” his voice was too level for someone who had almost been killed. Yet it sounded too low for his liking, too breathy. Eevee barked at him, as if asking if he was okay.

 

 Red’s horrified look didn’t go away. He raised both hands to sign-

 

“Don’t wanna hear it. Get your next one out or quit.” Okay Blue, too harsh. Red only gulped, tilting his head. Blue gave him a crooked smirk, trying not to sound as icy as he had before “Takes more than a hungry lizard to tear Blue Oak down.”

 

  _I’m fine, you idiot._

 

 Red sighed. The topic was dead. They would go back to the task at hand now.

 

 The same way Mimikyu was out of question, so was Cubone. Red completely ignored the beast’s pleas to fight against Eevee and, pursing his lips, grabbed the last pokeball on his belt.

 

 Pikachu didn’t look happy when it came out, but it also didn’t question Red so Blue let it go. Cubone and Charizard were out, so was Lapras… How many pokemons did Red have left? Two? Crap, Blue should have paid more attention instead of going all edgy.

 

 Focus, Blue, focus. It was hard with how painfully his heart was beating, but he had to. He just had to.

 

“Give it everything you got, Eevee.” He murmured. The pokemon in question only gave a step back, reading itself for a launch “If we win, I’ll buy you all those sugary cakes you love.”

 

 Pikachu sprinted forward all of a sudden. Blue cursed, throwing his hand to the side and watching as Eevee barely managed to evade. He barked out a quick attack. Pikachu seemed to react to his words, ears twitching as electricity charged through his body and passed to Eevee the moment it hit Pikachu. Blue swallowed down the need to curse.

 

 Pikachu was so much faster than he remembered. It also seemed to move on its own, Red’s left arm slack by his side as his right one rested on his hip. He couldn’t read any of his attacks. He didn’t know the signs he and Pikachu used. He just knew that those were as subtle as subtle got and that, sometimes, Pikachu didn’t even look back to know them. It was annoying.

 

 Every order Blue gave was immediately covered, either by an attack or by dodging. Eevee was growing frustrated.

 

 It just wasn’t fair. He needed his voice to guide his pokemon! Red was just taking advantage of that. Maybe Blue should feel honoured to have the man was playing on such a level to defeat him (because if Blue were really honest with himself, he only ever saw Pikachu down once, and it was by Alakazam’s hand). But who could feel satisfied when they were losing?

 

 It didn’t help that both pokemons were small and fast. It was like watching a car race, only that the cars were breathing beings and there was no defined pavement for the race itself. But there were collisions, there were epic turns, there were far too quick moves… It was making his headache return. It was making him dizzy.

 

 He needed a way to read Red. This wasn’t just about pokemons, Blue had to accept that.

 

_Iron tail, bite, bite, shadowball._ Pikachu was just flat out demoniac in battle, avoiding everything that came its way as if Eevee had rabies. Even with such a high attack and special attack status, Pikachu was out smarting them on defence too. It was really annoying, but…

 

  _Left, right, jump, right again._ He wasn’t even yelling those orders, just moving either his head or hand for Eevee to guide itself, yet Red knew. Red and his little yellow demon just knew where he would send Eevee next. Eevee couldn’t back down a little that Pikachu was right in front of it again, turning suddenly in iron tail. Blue pursed his lips as Eevee jumped, avoiding the attack completely.

 

 A twist of Red’s wrist and Pikachu finally snapped. A thunder wave rippled through the place, reflecting on the snow and paralyzing Eevee on the spot. Well shit, he didn’t have paralyze heals on him.

 

_Attack, flinch, attack, attack, flinch, get hit straight across the head with iron tail, miss._ True, Pikachu was getting tired, but Eevee was still losing. Red was reading him like a book, and Blue didn’t know how. But…

 

 His palms were aching from how hard he was digging his nails into them, the back of his head was itching, his jaw was so tense his teeth were hurting, his vision was getting blurry. He could feel his blood boiling through his veins, as if tiny matches were being lit up through his body and burning him inside out. He could do nothing besides muttering order here and there, Eevee not questioning him but looking just as obsessed as he was. But…

 

 But it felt good.

 

 It wasn’t a crushing pressure like before. It actually felt good. His blood was boiling but he could feel the wind on his face. His head was itching but he could pinpoint exactly where, not just blame it on the whole cut. His lungs were heavy but a grin was slowly taking over his face, his eyes shining.

 

 Blue’s eyes darted up towards Red. Red looked back at him. He would read him. Blue would so read him. He would show him how good he could be. And then perhaps Red would finally open up to him.

 

 Both of them looked down towards the battle again. By the corner of his eye, he watched as Red finally straightened a little, left hand moving slightly as his index pointed up. Pikachu’s ears twitched as it held its ground.

 

 Wait a minute.

 

 Red rolled his wrist, his index turning and pointing down. Pikachu reacted, cheeks cracking white as yellow sparkled around them. Blue stepped back on impulse, one hand touching his broken necklace through his jacket. Eevee noticed this and stepped back too. Finally, Red closed his hand into a fist.

 

 Thunder filled the air, reflecting on the snow and coming straight at Eevee. Blue only had time to shout before Eevee leaped, managing to avoid part of the shock but still ending up with an electric burn on its legs. Blue cussed.

 

 Red frowned, Pikachu blinking up at them in confusion _. Yes, yes Blue did_. His grin couldn’t possibly get huger. His stitches didn’t feel as uncomfortable anymore. _He did it, he read him._

 

“Watchu waitin’ for, girl? Return it!”

 

 Eevee moved as fast as lightening, returning the attack and bumping full force against Pikachu. Pikachu was knocked back, gasping and slipping on the melted snow. Its cheeks sparkled yellow.

 

 Everything began to sprint in front of him like a time-lapse video afterwards. The battle was too quick but he could follow it with his eyes, notice little mistakes which gave Eevee the chance to strike. He was focused on Red and Pikachu’s interaction, but that didn’t stop him from using his beloved and straightforward battling style. Red didn’t back down, using Eevee’s attacks against itself and trying to corner it. _Trying._

 

 Sparkle after shadowball after more electricity, Pikachu and Eevee never stopped. They bit and scratched and jumped, sometime using the melted snow for speed, sometimes slipping on it. Both were getting tired, so one big final blow had to come at some point.

 

 Pikachu took the chance. With one clench of Red’s fist, its body entire body sparkled and evolved itself on a blanket of electricity. Eevee hissed, lowering itself on its pawns. Wild Charge. Just like in the beginning. The time-lapse stopped. Blue saw Pikachu taking sprint, and fuck it, if he couldn’t defend it, he had to either make Eevee avoid it or fight back.

 

“Smash it down.” He whispered.

 

 Eevee didn’t need to be told twice. Next thing Blue knew, the pokemon was jumping in the air, just above Pikachu’s electricity bubble. Some of it touched Eevee’s tail, but the pokemon ignored it. Its tail hardened. Blue could count with one hand the emotions that went through Pikachu’s eyes as the mouse halted its sprint, face contorting and looking up at Eevee.

 

 Eevee came down, smashing its tail straight across Pikachu’s back. Pikachu gasped in a silent scream, being knocked so hard its body ended up almost at Red’s feet.

 

_Yes, just like that. Nail it._

 

 Pikachu rose to its paws, body smoking. Younger Blue would be wary now, afraid that a major attack would follow and effectively knock Eevee out. Older Blue knew Pikachu was unable to produce electricity for the short seconds after bursting out an attack like that. And he took the bait.

 

 He shouted out _“shadowball_ ”, or thought he did, he simply didn’t know anymore. Pikachu wasn’t fast enough. With a strangled voice it fell flat against the ground, defeated. Blue gave himself the satisfaction of bumping one fist in the air and howling.

 

 Who was next? He needed more. He had finally gotten into the zone.

 

 Red ran to Pikachu and picked it up, eyeing Blue with caution. Blue frowned at him.

 

“Who’s next?” he asked, voice rumbling through his throat and coming out like a dry bark.

 

 More. He needed more. Who would Red throw next? He too had caught a Venusaur, right? Maybe his Salandit.

 

 Red only looked up, one revive in hand as Pikachu laid on his other arm.

 

“C’mon, bring it.”

_Bring it. Bring it._

 

 After injecting it with the revive, Red called Pikachu back, tilting his head at him.

 

_[It’s over.]_

 

 What? What did he mean ‘it’s over’? Had Blue stepped over a line or something?

 

“Pikachu being defeated demotivated you? C’mon Red. Fucking call the next one.”

 

_[Charizard’s out, and I’m not using Cubone.]_

 

“I know! Just throw a normal one!”

 

_[Blue? There is no next one?]_

 

“What do you-“

 

_[You won.]_

 

 His brain shut down.

 

 He… He had won? Like, he had won against Red? He, Blue Oak from Pallet? With his own pokemons? Was Red messing with him? Had Red even used all six – well, five of his-

 

 He shook his head, staring at Red as if he had grown three heads.

 

“You mean, for real?”

 

 Red nodded.

 

“You have, like, no one left?”

 

 Red shook his head, puzzled.

 

“I-I win? For real?!”

 

_[I just said that-]_

 

“I mean, of course I win, I mean, it’s me but- holy shit.” His voice died down on his throat. He brought his hands up to cover his mouth, all anger evaporating from him.

 

 He won. For the first time since they left that lab, he won. He-

 

 He looked back at Red, whose head was tilted to the side as he all but ogled. He won. But… Besides feeling happy for finally succeeding… There was nothing else. It was as if he was happy just because he had won after failing for so long, not because he had defeated Red and finally made his dreams come true.

 

 It was... disappointing. Where was all the self-love and arrogance which he expected would tag along?

 

 He shook his head. Perhaps he was just shocked. This wasn’t a normal occurrence after all, and Red hadn’t fought with his full team. Besides, he did feel giddy, so that was something. If only his head didn’t itch so much.

 

“Ah! How did that felt? Finally experiencing how badass my team is!”

 

 Red only shook his head, finally letting his eyes cast down and wiping some snow from his trousers.

 

“Aww, what’s that? Jealous?”

 

 Red raised a brow at him.

 

_[Of you?]_

 

 Blue only smirked, walking up to him. He wouldn’t push his luck too far for now.

 

“So… What’s the deal with Pikachu? Ya never call it back after a battle, and you also never walk around without that beast perched on your shoulder like a bird.”

 

 Red looked down, rubbing one foot in the snow. Blue blinked at him.

 

"Red."

 

 Red’s attempt at looking away caused more emotion to bubble through Blue’s veins than winning a battle had.

 

_[We argued. He thinks we’re dumb.]_

 

Blue’s eyes fell on Eevee, who was now pawning at Cubone’s face as a way to shut it up.

 

“Ah, funny. I think I know what that’s like… You puttin’ it on timeout came as a surprise though.”

 

 Red only shrugged, looking ahead.

 

_[Pikachu was the one going inside the ball.]_

 Blue wasn’t even phased at the beast’s tantrums anymore.

 

They began to walk down the mountain, wind gushing over them as their shoes slid on half melted snow. Blue fit his hands on his pockets and breathed out, watching as the air turned into smoke in front of him. Red took a glance at him before looking ahead again, lips parted and cheeks growing pink. The cold, probably. It's not like he was blushing. But it was still adorable, and Blue felt like slapping himself cause shut it brain, it's not the time.

 

"So... we're fine?"

 

 Red pondered for a little, eyes dropping to the ground and one hand fiddling with his shirt. Then he looked up again, shook his head, and dropped his shoulders. It shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did.

 

"Oh."

 

 Blue turned his head, trying to focus on the view, the bubbly city below, the distant noise of pokemon families coming out of their shelters after his and Red's battle, the tiny white flowers magically sprouting from a few patches of dirt that weren’t covered in snow. It wasn't easy, not when his whole self just wanted to collapse and never get back up again. He sort of deserved it, didn’t he?

 

 Blue could feel more than see Red's head turning to him, eyes borrowing into him as he probably took glee in making him weak.

 

 He touched his shoulder. Blue turned, expecting to have to force a sneer, but only a tilted head and a frown greeted him.

 

"What? Changed your mind?"

 

 Red shook his head, his hand dropping from Blue's shoulder.

_[We're not fine.]_

 

 Blue chuckled darkly.

 

"Yeah, you just told me so-"

 

 Red brought one finger up and pressed it to Blue's mouth, effectively shutting him up. His lips burned, the fire moving on to his cheeks and reaching his ears. Shit. Stupid Red, why did you- ah, he was pulling back at his embarrassed silence.

 

 Blue looked up at him, blinking.

_[But... We're better than yesterday. I think.]_

 

 Blue felt his lips pulling into a huge grin, the corners of his mouth twitching as he brought one hand to cover it. Red looked away, pinker than before.

 

 They were better, uh? That was a start.

 

 Red stopped just before they reached the empty bus stop, turning around and giving him a weird look. Blue stopped too, turning around so that he could face him.

 

“Yeah?”

 

 Red looked up at him, lips pursed and his brows furrowed. Blue only blinked, unsure on what to say. He didn’t need to say anything though, because soon Red was taking three long steps and wrapping his arms around his back, pressing him against his chest and resting his forehead on his shoulder. Blue blinked again, his face heating up as his hands shakily dropped on Red’s back.

 

 What the hell.

 

“I-ah… You okay there, buddy? Pal?” he asked, patting Red’s back.

 

 Red only nodded, a sigh escaping his lips. Blue was ready to let his head rest on the man’s chest when Red moved back again, taking two steps away. Blue almost frowned, a shiver running up his spine as the cold temperatures got to him again. Damn, hugging Red had felt warm. He was tired of snow. He wanted to feel warm again.

 

 Red looked down.

 

_[Sorry. About Charizard.]_

 

 Blue stared at him for three full seconds before sighing and rolling his eyes.

 

“Not tour fault the beast is dumb as fuck.”

 

 At that Red looked up.

 

_[Not dumb. Just going through the rebel phase.]_

 

“The rebel phase?”

_[The rebel phase.]_

 

 They stared at each other in complete silence for a few moments, Blue eventually breaking the silence by smiling and shaking his head.

 

“You’re the rebel phase, Red. You’re the rebel phase.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AKA - a pokemon battle is better than any couple therapy out there (just kidding, battles don't solve everything, please go see a therapist if you're feeling down, don't go around telling your pets to fight each other)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IF YOUR EMAIL IS LIKE MINE AND ONLY NOTIFIES YOU OF THE LITERAL LATEST CHAPTER UPDATED, KNOW THAT I POSTED TWO. Go back and read chapter 9, there's two chaps today. Warning because I already ended up reading two chapters ahead because one author published many in a row and my mail only notified me of the latter one. In all caps to catch your attention.
> 
> ANYWAY, this chapter is really small. And it's also only one scene. However, I did not want to mix what happens on this chapter with what happens on the previous one, cause like, it didn't made sense in my head to put two certain scenes in the same wall of text. It's literally for it to flow better... Besides, almost 6 000 words still is a lot.
> 
> Hope you like this two chapters. I should only write about two more plus an extra chap on Red's pov (if everything goes well).

 They may be ‘better’, but the moment they stepped a foot inside the house, Blue realized things were still pretty awkward. Samson, as usual, was nowhere to be seen and thus they had nothing better to do besides lying down and looking at absolutely nowhere. Before, Blue might have even suggested a card game, but something told him he didn’t want to spend half an hour crumpled over a silent exchange of paper moves. Besides, it wasn’t like they could go out and do anything else, given the fact Blue was still recovering and had already done too much for one day.

 

 At least the painkillers were strong. Up in Mount Lanakila he had been able to ignore it, but as soon as he got into the bus he felt like dying.

 

 So the hours began to tick by. Slowly. So slowly Blue didn’t even remembered half of it, body thrown over his unmade bed as he flickered through the pages of a magazine. The ten minutes he had spent reading a boring article about avocado milkshakes and their health benefits seemed like months, and by the end of it he just threw the agglomerate of papers across the room and let himself fall flat on the bed, hoping the heat would eat him alive.

 

 He didn’t know how much time he spent like that, face planted on his pillow and mind blank. He just knew that he must have dozed off at some point, because suddenly something was shaking him till he groaned. He opened his eyes slowly, frowning at how dark the room suddenly was. What time was it?

 

 He was shaken again. He raised himself on his hands and sat down, eyes travelling to his right. Pikachu stared back at him, ears perked up. Blue raised a brow at it.

 

“What’re you doin’ here?”

 

 His eyes shifted to Red’s bed; the covers were pulled up and some of his things were thrown over it: Red’s bag, a couple of revives, his jacket and pants, along with the magazine Blue had thrown earlier. He looked back at Pikachu, who was now on the ground and walking towards the door.

 

“Oi, did ya just wake me up to piss me off? I was actually sleeping for once, you know?”

 

 Pikachu narrowed its eyes and looked at him over its shoulder. Then it pointed at the door and ran out, leaving Blue alone.

 

“Hey- okay, okay, wait!”

 

 Blue got up and ran after it, stopping by the living room to put on his flip-flops and fit the keys into his short’s pockets. He followed Pikachu out of the house, through paths of grass which slowly turned into rock and sand. The wind was warm against his face despite it still being pretty dark, only the sound of nocturnal birds reaching his ears. He didn’t know where Pikachu was taking him, but his brain was also too dizzy from sleep for him to care.

 

 Soon enough the beast stopped, just as the rocks formed into a line in front of the sea, no beaches or tourist attraction points surrounding it. Just the ground and a large blanket of water reflecting the stars.

 

 And in the middle was him, turning around only to glare at Pikachu with a look that seemed to convey the word ‘traitor’ in every single way. Pikachu stuck its tongue out and ran back, leaving the two of them alone.

 

 Blue cringed at how childish the pokemon’s idea suddenly looked. So much for who would make the first move. Even a yellow mouse had more guts than him.

 

“Well good morning, I guess.” Blue said, sighing and deciding to go along with it.

 

 He walked towards Red and let his body fall beside him, knees pulled to his chest as he looked ahead. The skies were dark blue with a small spot of pale light beginning the sprout from the sea, no sun visible yet. There was no breeze, no sound, no distant splashing or itchy feeling of bugs crawling up his skin. It was just him and Red, their pokemons not even bothering to stand around and watch them do… whatever they were doing.

 

 Red didn’t look at him, hands limply laid on his crossed legs as he sporadically blinked. He looked like one of those real sized Gardevoir dolls which stared emptily at you from above a shelf, their non-existent attention seeming to linger on you despite the fact they most certainly weren’t even seeing your body. It scared him.

 

 He didn’t like it when Red was neutral. Despite what everyone may think, spending a good amount of time with him leaded Blue to learn the difference between each of his emotions. He was past all kids of embarrassment to even hide the fact he could probably tell each and every apart, and that tearing through all this emptiness was all he cared about right now.

 

 After at least five minutes of silence, Blue spoke.

 

“Are we gonna keep this up or…?”

 

 Red said nothing, the only sign he heard him being the way his fingers twitched.

 

“We still have a week and a half ahead. I don’t wanna spend it bumping heads with you, so at least say something.”

 

 Anything. It didn’t matter as long as Red said it. At this point, it didn’t even matter if the man chose to avoid the theme completely. It would be A-Okay if he told him he was going back to Mount Silver too. Actually, Red could just say fuck you, I don’t trust you anymore, and Blue would be fine with it. Because at least then he would know what ground they stood on.

 

 He guessed the latter one was the least likely, given the way their afternoon had ended.

 

 Another while passed. The sun was beginning to peek out now, dotting a thin line of the sky in a weird mix of light orange and pale blue. Red looked down and took off his cap, laying it between his legs. He was a mess, his hair sticking out more wildly than usual as dark bags dropped below his eyes. His chapped bottom lip was stuck between his teeth as he scrunched his eyes, his hands unconsciously messing with the hat and flipping it around. Blue sighed.

 

“This is not some bland, cliché chick flick movie where I ask you if ya wanna talk about it, you know? I- I know I’m probably not the guy you wanted to end up friends with when we were younger, but c’mon,” that at least had made Red look up, head tilted and eyes unfocused “It’s been what? Almost twenty years since we met? If you wanna say something, do so. Now don’t expect me to find out what’s wrong by the holy grace of Arceus or something. Nor for me to… you know, keep chasing. Just- Just…”

 

 He didn’t mean for his voice to slowly begin to lower in pitch, nor for his eyes to cowardly lower as his fingers danced around a few sprouting pieces of grass. Red only kept on staring, eyes narrowing as his lips parted and his brows knitted together. He shook his head and raised one hand, stopping mid-air and just shaking his head again as he incredulously looked at him. Blue frowned.

 

“What?”

 

 Red shook his head again.

 

_[Stop-]_

 

 He paused, blinking and clutching his hair in frustration before signing again.

 

_[Stop talking like that.]_

 

 Blue frowned, leaning away from his knees.

 

“Like what?”

 

_[Like-]_

 

 Red waved his hands in front of his chest, clutching them in fists as the words seemed to tumble between his fingers. He huffed and looked at Blue straight in the eyes, as if they held the word list he so desperately needed.

 

_[Like I’m going to cast you out of my life at any moment. Like I don’t even care about you or what we have. Stop- stop acting- I hate it when you speak like that.]_

 

 Blue didn’t know what it was. If it was the fact Red said more than two full sentences in a row, if it was the meaning behind those words, if it was the fact Blue had wanted to hear that at least someone wanted him in their lives for once. He just knew that suddenly he was looking away and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, a sudden flame burning behind his eyelids and spreading out to his throat.

 

 No. This wasn’t about him. He would not make this about him, not now.

 

“Sh-shut up.”

 

 Red shook his shoulder. It was Blue’s turn to shake his head look away, holding in a breath to prevent his emotions from pouring out. They stood like that for a few minutes, Blue recomposing his breath as Red’s hand dropped from his shoulder to rub at his back. It was silly, really. Blue was an adult now, he shouldn’t let shit like this happen. It made him seem weak. Especially when this wasn’t even about him to begin with.

 

 When he finally felt like his world wouldn’t collapse if he spoke, he opened his mouth.

 

“Why did your Pikachu wake me up before dawn?” It was probably the most obvious theme change ever, but whatever.

 

 Red sighed and took his hand away, using it to scratch his face instead. He was frowning and biting the inside of his cheek, something Blue had never seen him doing before. Blinking, Blue turned towards the man, tilting his head.

 

“Wasn’t the demon on time out, too?”

 

 Red seemed to held in a sigh as he looked ahead again, signing something with the words _Pikachu_ and _ran away_ before letting his head fall flat on his hands. Blue repeated the question, much to Red’s disarray.

 

_[Pikachu thinks we’re dumb.]_

 

 Blue stared at him for ten full seconds before he felt a small pang of inadequate giddiness brushing through him.  Red immediately sat straighter, glaring at him.

 

_[No.]_

 

“No what?” Blue asked, covering his mouth as he felt his abdomen contracting. Oh god, he could feel the hysteria flowing through his veins. It felt as if his body was finally catching up with everything and punishing him for being so serious over nothing. He could feel one of those inconvenient laughs where the situation wasn’t even funny to begin with punching its way out of his body, making it hard to breath as he focused all of his energy on not doing so. Arceus, dumb wasn’t stupid enough to describe the situation.

_[Blue, I’ll kick you off this sidewalk.]_

 

“Is this even a sidewalk to begin with?” it was an honest question, but also one to prevent him from letting even the tiniest of chuckles escape.

 

_[Don’t.]_

 

“So you’re telling me even Pikapi saw how stupid this all was and-“

 

_[Blue-]_

 

“No, wait! And then he- he-“ he snorted and pinched his nose, unable to control the way the corners of his lips contorted into a grin “He ran away, woke me up and now we’re talking under the stars like some broken, madly in love couple-“

 

 Red moved forward and tried to clasp a hand over his mouth, failing as Blue caught his wrist and pushed it down, trapping it between his knees.

 

“-in one those western movies where-“

 

 Red grabbed him with his other hand and pushed him, trying to give life to his promise of throwing him off the sidewalk. It didn’t work. Actually, it failed so hard both of them ended up tumbling on the ground, finally breaking into an incontrollable laughing fit where no sound or breath came out as their lungs constricted by lack of air. Blue felt his vision blackening out as he limply fell on his side, mouth open and eyes scrunched shut. It was so ridiculous, it wasn’t even funny.

 

 Hours seemed to pass until Red finally sat up, one of his hands still grasping Blue’s arm. Blue took a deep breath, which was broken as another wave of hysteria flooded through him and made him wheeze. He rolled on his back, Red slapped him across the arm for being an idiot, but he just kept on laughing, loudly this time.

 

“Oh sh-shit stop being a-a-a _fucking hypocrite_ , you’re laughing too-“

 

 He said through breaths, trying to sit up as tears threatened to fall. Red looked away, hiding his face with one hand. It didn’t work too well for him, since both his neck and ears were pink as his shoulders shook with laugher. Blue bit his lip and tried to control himself, his laugher slowly dying until he was just occasionally giggling each time he looked at Red. Red seemed to recover faster, removing his hand from Blue’s arm and leaving him feeling quite empty.

 

 When Blue finally felt like he could talk without erupting into yet another fit, he sighed.

 

“We’re so fucking ridiculous.”

 

 Red nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips. Blue in return shook his head, both hands coming to fix his shirt. _Getting better, uh?_

 

“Although… You do know none of this actually solves anything, right?”

 

 The other man only sighed, grabbing his cap and throwing it from hand to hand in a way to control his nerves. Blue stared at him, patiently waiting. With a purse of his lips, Red let his cap fall flat on his lap again, eyes darting over Blue’s body but never making eye contact.

 

_[I know.]_

 

“Wanna talk about it?”

 

 Red snorted.

 

_[You said you wouldn’t ask that.]_

 

 Blue only offered a weak smile, patting him on the shoulder. Red hunched over himself, letting his elbows rest on his knees for a while as he lost himself into his own world. Blue stared again, waiting a little bit more. After a while, Red just nodded. Blue felt his throat go dry. It was now.

 

“What’s it with the rockets?”

 

 Red went rigid, biting his lip and avoiding his eyes.

 

_[You legitimately don’t know.]_

 

“We went over this, I have no idea.”

 

 Red sighed and stood motionless for at least ten seconds before some sort of energy possessed him. He placed one hand on the sidewalk and turned his body, completely facing Blue as he straightened himself and looked at him dead on. Knowing Red as well as he did, he was probably just putting on an act and looking at his nose or forehead, just so it looked like he was actually making eye contact when he was freaking out instead.

 

 Blue would feel like an asshole if he just kept facing the ocean, so he too turned around, crossing his legs and letting his hands fall on his knees. A small part of him was jumping just at the thought of finally figuring this all out.

 

“Is this the part where I unlock your tragic backstory?”

 

 And here come the self-masochistic thoughts again as a sudden desire to kick himself made its presence known. He should get himself checked for the _amount_ of _lack_ of control he possessed. Red only slapped him across the shoulder, shaking his head.

 

_[You’re my tragic backstory.]_

 

 Blue sheepishly looked away, giving off the fakest of chuckles.

 

 Red gulped.

 

_[I… Do you know-]_

 

 Red clenched his fists and lowered his hands, giving off a frustrated sigh. The man was never good with words, so Blue sort of expected him to be unable to just say what was wrong from the beginning. Which was a shame. Maybe… Maybe a little nudge would help? Blue himself felt more confident if people asked him questions instead of letting him just ramble. People other than Red, anyway.

 

"From the beginning, maybe? When did it start? The first time you saw them or...?"

 

 Red shook his head.

 

"Ah, understandable. The only annoying thing about them was having to crane my twelve year old neck to look at them - well, only annoying thing _besides_ the mafia part, of course."

 

 That at least made Red chuckle, some of the tension evaporating from his shoulders as he hunched a little. Blue smiled and, without a second thought, moved his hands to Red’s knees and started to trace patterns there, enjoying the way Red didn’t even flinch at the touch.

 

 The sun was slowly crippling higher, casting light on both of them and breaking through the still dark, early skies of Alola. It felt surreal. It was as if their conversation, the warmness below his hand, the soft breeze hitting his face... it was as if none of them were actually happening, as if this was some sort of elaborate dream.

 

 And well, what would be one of Blue's dreams if it didn't turn awkward and nightmarish?

 

"Silph Company then."

 

 The mood dropped as Red nodded, hands clutching at his shorts for short seconds before he looked up at him. Blue only gave off a forced smile and urged him to start explaining.

 

 It was a relief when Red finally did so.

 

_[I didn't come in there expecting to take them down.]_

 

"Oh? Word?"

 

 Red nodded. Wow. Blue wasn't actually expecting that. He always thought Red had just decided to take it upon himself to do Officer Jenny's work. They were kids after all, and what kid didn’t want to become a hero? Defeating a criminal organization was a basic job to become one. And Red was a kid at the time. Almost a year younger than him.

 

_[I... I wanted to know why. And the worst is that I still don't know the reason.]_

 

"The reason-“ he stopped, lips pursing. Ah.

 

 The reason they were doing what they did. As if there was some other explanation besides the fact that Team Rocket had been nothing but a group of selfish bastards whose love for money surpassed everything else.

 

 Red probably couldn't grasp the idea that some people were just shitty, and that scared Blue. Red was never able to understand that sometimes people had no redemption. Even years ago, when they both were on school and people treated him the way they did, Red always gave them a second, third, tenth chance. It was ridiculous. Red was either too good or too stupid to be a normal human being.

 

 Perhaps that was the reason he hanged around Blue so much.

 

"Go on."

 

 Red bit his lip. After a while, he pointed at Blue.

 

"Uh? What?"

 

 Red pointed at him again.

 

_[How did you get there?]_

 

Ah. No one ever asked him that. Blue had almost forgotten he had been there too with all the talk. But if that was what Red needed to know before proceeding, so be it.

 

"Well... I knew you were in town. And I also had a feeling you would go after the rockets. So I walked in there like a champ, beat some of the grunts blocking the way, wiped floor after floor… That's... I believe that's when you arrived, 'cause out of nowhere sirens were blowing and walls were closing. I only had time to teleport myself again before I got stuck on the ninth floor. That's when I met Giovanni too, though the man wanted nothing with me. Didn't even let me battle him, the stupid jerk."

 

 Red sighed and bit the inside of his cheek, staring at the ground for a long while before finally summoning up the will to talk.

 

_[You didn't see it, then? They were doing experiments, you know? It- It was on the news too.]_

 The hand tracing patterns on Red’s knee stopped as his throat suddenly dried. He blinked at Red a few times before the realization sunk in, his body going rigid from the cold impact of it.

 

“You were there.”

 

 Red nodded. His eyes were glued down as he bit his lip with far too much force, hands trembling slightly as he tried really hard to keep his posture. Had the man never spoken to anyone about this? Blue may not be a psychologist, but he knew keeping this sort of thing to oneself was bad. Really bad.

 

 He did nothing, letting Red catch his breath and proceed on his own.

 

_[I just- I hate their poison gas. I hate remembering the broken pokemons and... the_ leftovers _from the experiments they did. I hate Giovanni. Those teleports made me nauseous. And I- I-]_

 

 Red sighed, head dropping lower as his shoulders shook.

 

_[They just- They scare me.]_

 

 And then he looked at Blue straight in the eye, eyes watery and cheeks red, and Blue was sure he stopped breathing. Red? Afraid of something? Impossible.

 

 Engines started to work on his head, putting one and one together as memories reunited with Red's words. He imagined Red running up and down countless flats of stairs, nothing but the same maniac inducing white light following him. He imagined Red, little young Red, stepping teleport after teleport as people he knew from nowhere came to either panic at him or battle. He imagined his face when he got to the labs - shit, the labs. Blue was blessed with ignorance about what was happening in there at the time, to what _actually_ happened there. The newspapers had censored a lot of images.

 

 He saw Red, reaching out for him after their battle, desperate. He saw himself turning his back on him as Red wordlessly begged Blue to go with him, to not leave him alone in there. He saw himself flipping him off and leaving, just like everyone had done before. He saw Red’s blank expression the next time he saw him. He saw it all fitting together for the first time, things he overlooked before and never even thought about smashing together.

 

 Maybe if he had stayed, things would have gone different. But nooo, Blue was too much of an asshole for that. For Zapdos’ sake, he had thought about Silph Company the previous day. His younger self may have not paid attention, but he was pulling at the strings and trying to find out. He should have remembered. He should have put the pieces together on his own and ran to his best friend afterwards, an apologize on his tongue. That was the bare minimum he could have done.

 

 Fuck, he was so stupid.

 

"Shit, Red, back then you were- I didn't know. I had Giovanni's stupid frown in mind when the made refused to battle me, being stuck up there was fucking my brain, and then you appeared and shit, I was just so mad at you, I-"

 

 Red tilted his head, laying one of his hands on top of his.

 

"Uh? Ah, I… I was mad you had gotten there. I was mad cause I knew you would beat me. And when you did... I just couldn’t look at you. I- shit, I'm sorry, I'm such a shitty friend, I should have noticed! I should have- I should have gone with you, not leave you alone-“

 

 Red nudged him, frowning. Blue shook his head

 

"No, this ain’t about me. I- I now know why Daisy didn’t want me to tell you now. She- she was afraid you'd revive those- memories, moments? Whatever, those times again, right?"

 

 Red shrugged, looking away.

 

"You dunno?" Red nodded "Well... That was probably it. Crap, I’m sorry.”

 

 At that Red frowned and lightly slapped his arm. Blue pretended to be offended, lowering his head. Here he was, saying he was sorry only for the person he was apologizing to slapping him. He couldn’t blame him though, he himself hated when other people felt pitiful of him. He didn’t know if he was apologizing out of pity or out of regret anymore too.

 

“Though... Hum… you do know they'll never be able to do that sort of stuff again, right? It's gone. No more bad Silph Company. You can... let it go."

 

 Easier said than done.

 

_[There's always someone like them.]_

 

"And that's why people like you exist."

 

_[I have no right to be sad. It wasn't me they hurt.]_

 

 Blue gasped and slapped Red's hand, making the man's eyes widen as he jumped back.

 

"Don't pull that shit on me," he lowly said "What if they had tortured you or your Pikachu? What then? Would you say you had no right to be sad because you didn't die like many? And if you died? Would you say you were lucky to not have suffered as much as the others? Cut that crap, Red. You ain't fooling anyone but yourself like that."

 

 Red blinked at him and lowered his head, hands clutching on top of his legs. Shit, had he gone too far?

 

“I-I mean…” he grabbed Red’s hands, slowly moving until he managed to intertwine their fingers. He gulped and tried to ignore the raising temperature on his cheeks “You’re lamer than I thought if you believe you have no right to be sad. All cool heroes have some sort of scar, and you wouldn’t say their scar isn’t there just because they defeated their enemies, right?”

 

 He didn’t exactly mean a physical scar, but fuck it. Red probably understood. The man in question looked up, squeezing his hands before he pulled away to sign. Blue almost pouted at that.

 

_[Are you saying I’m a cool hero?]_

“Pff, as if. If nothing, you’re the cool sidekick-“

 

_Your pride’s gonna be the end of you one day, so instead of trying to either save your skin or act like someone you aren’t, why don’t you try being honest? Just for a few minutes?_

 Blue stopped for a second. Well put him in a dress and call him Green, he just found out what his uncle was talking about.

 

 With a gulp, he looked down, voice coming out much softer than he meant and making him himself cringe.

 

“Yeah. You’re a cool hero.”

 

 The atmosphere grew silent. Seconds ticked by as Blue kept his eyes on the ground, lip stuck between his teeth as he felt his whole face combusting. Why had he said that? Now he just embarrassed himself and-

 

 Red tapped his knee. Blue looked up, ready to snap, only to find Red giggling, cheeks a little bit darker as he began to sign.

 

_[So flattered. Blue Oak, epitome of coolness, thinks I’m a cool hero.]_

 

“Sh-shut up!”

 

 Red just laughed, shaking his head and giving him a fond look. A fond look that was quickly replaced by a more serious one, although the air didn’t feel as thick as it had been a few minutes prior.

 

_[It’s just that… I thought that if I…]_

 

 Blue smiled at that, letting his hands rest on his own knees. Guess Red had his quota of words filled for the day.

 

"You thought that by defeating them, it all would go away. But it didn't, did it?"

 

 Red sighed and nodded, shoulders dropping.

 

 Blue sighed too.

 

"I know it's different but... when I defeated you? Yesterday? I thought that would wipe away all the embarrassment and... well, _frustration slash sadness_ that came with continuously losing my battles to you. But what’s one win? If we battled right now, you’d probably take it back anyways. And it's not like other people give a shit if I win or not."

 

 Blue vaguely remembered a dream he had, just a week after arriving into Alola, where the papers inverted and he himself won the League. Had it made a difference? No. His relationship with his grandfather was still shitty, Red still went to Mount Silver, he was still miserable... Not even his self-esteem had grown.

 

 Red blinked at him, as if curious about what Blue would say next. Blue coughed and scratched the back of his head.

 

"I think what I'm gettin' at is that no matter how much you try to ignore it, even if you had lost against Giovanni and his mafia still kept on the run, the argument we're having right now wouldn't change. You'd still remember everything. You'd still... _Agh, Red, I-I don't know how to say it but_ \- do you understand?"

_Do you understand that it's not stupid to fear something that causes you so much distress? Do you understand that it's okay to gain a trauma of something which doesn't even look like much of a big deal? Do you understand that no matter what you had done, Team Rocket would still be a shitty organization that profits from people's pain and doesn't care about anyone's well-being except their own?_

 

 Red stared at him for a long while, eyes unfocused. Blue gulped and looked away, hands fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

 

 After what seemed like hours, Red finally nodded, a slow motion of his head as he carefully met his eyes. He raised one hand and brought it in front of his chin, pulling it away in a rapid movement.

 

_[Thank you.]_

“No problem, pal. Always here for you.”

 

 Red chuckled.

 

_[What are you? My psychologist?]_

 Blue snorted.

 

"Doctor Oak at your service."

 

 Red shook his head with a smile and shifted, sitting on his knees. The sun was above the water now, the warm and cold colours mixing and giving a purple tint to the sky, the colour reflecting on Red's eyes. God, he was so beautiful. The man shook his head and raised both hands, signing slowly this time.

 

_[Enough about Team Rocket, please.]_

 

Blue nodded, ready to abruptly change the theme of the conversation to egg hatching or something equally further from everything they just spoke about. Only that Red interrupted him again.

 

_[And Blue?]_

 

"Yeah?"

 

 Red tilted his head, one curly strand of hair falling over his eyes.

_[You're not a shitty friend. Not anymore.]_

 

 Blue laughed, the sound too fake even for his own ears. There was Red, being nice for no reason.

 

"Yeah yeah, no need to be kind. I know you just stuck with me cause... well, cause we have a background. I'm pretty sure- uh, what was her name? Leaf? Yeah, I'm pretty sure Leaf – you know, that girl from our old school? - would be your top choice if our families hadn’t jammed us together for no reason."

 

 Red frowned and shook his head.

 

_[She's not you.]_

 

"No one is like me."

 

 The blade was twisting, adrenaline pumping out of it and into his system. He didn't like it at all.

 

_[You're the one who's here.]_

 

"Then again, child background-"

 

_[Blue-]_

 

"Red-"

 

_[Blue I'm serious-]_

 

"Shut it!"

 

 They went silent. Blue felt the pressure crushing him, threatening to make him cry his eyes out again. He didn’t want that. He was an adult now. This wasn’t about him. Crying like a child would make him weak.

 

"Don't- don't make me say it. I- I can't- _ugh_. Just- I treated you like shit. No amount of friendship can wipe that."

 

 Red only stared at him, brows knitted together and pouting. Blue avoided his gaze, fingers scrapping at his knees.

 

_Your pride will be the end of you_ , his grandfather said. He closed his hands into fists.

 

“So just-“ his throat went dry.

 

  _Why don’t you try being honest?_ , his uncle replied. It was driving him crazy. Why wouldn’t people shut up?

 

“You deserve better than-“ his throat closed up.

 

 He couldn’t speak. He flat out couldn’t. No sound was coming out. Was this how Red felt all the time? No. Red had managed to speak a few moments prior. Blue just couldn’t. He was a coward, he was too prideful, he-

 

 He was being pulled against someone, his forehead resting on their shoulder as strong arms wrapped around him and pressed him flush against a soft chest. Red. Red was hugging him. But why? Blue didn’t need a hug, he needed to- he needed to-

 

 Why was he crying now of all times?

 

 Red just pressed one hand against his head and tangled his fingers on his hair, holding him there and rubbing his back as he let it out. No words, no explanations, no nothing. He just took him and held him as he broke down, as if Blue was the most precious thing he had on his whole life. He didn’t even make fun of him.

 

 Blue didn’t deserve this. However, he really, really wanted it.

 

 So he just let go. He just let the burning pressure behind his eyelids go along with the lump in his throat,

 

 He didn’t know how long they stood there. The only thing he knew was that he was sad, all his bottled up feelings suddenly breaking the glass and coming out, and that Red’s arms were warm and comfortable and he never wanted to leave them. If time had to freeze, it would need to be now. He didn’t even know if he was talking, if he was screaming, or if he was just silently and grossly weeping. He just knew he was finally free.

 

 He didn’t pull back right away. He let his tears dry and his breath even, Red’s hand stopping at the end of his back and staying there. His view was obscured, but he could tell the light was much stronger now, morning already having arrived. Distant squeaks could be heard, along with the splash of water against stone and the sound of wind blowing past the trees. No people though. Just nature and the pokemon world.

 

 After what seemed like a lifetime, he pulled back, hands on Red’s chest. The man leaned in, letting their foreheads rest against one another, and if felt so natural Blue was sure he would break down again. Instead, he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Red grabbed one of his hands and worked around it until it was pulled into a thumbs up. Blue smiled.

 

“Yeah, ‘m fine.”

 

 Woah, his voice was rough. Red pulled back, making him open his eyes. The man was staring at him, face soft and body still close. He tilted his head, blinking and nodding into his direction. Blue nodded in response.

 

“Yeah, for real. I just- sorry, that was lame.” He nervously giggled, closing his eyes and leaning forward until his head was resting against Red’s shoulder again “Really lame. You must think I’m a weakling cry baby now.”

 

 Red shook his head, pulling him away by the shoulders. Blue raised his head in confusion, eyes lowering to Red’s hands as the man signed.

_[Not lame. The epitome of coolness, remember?]_

 Blue chuckled, letting his head tumble back. Seriously. What did he do to deserve this man?

 

“That was like, before I soaked your shirt.”

 

_[Strong men cry too.]_

 

“Strong men aren’t good for nothing losers, though.” He was so numb he didn’t even flinch at his words. Red reacted though.

 

_[You’re… you’re amazing.]_

 

“Sweet words, pal. But they ain’t nothing but that. Stop trying to be nice out of pity.”

 

_[It’s true.]_

 

“Can you prove it, then?”

 

 Red hesitated at that. Ah. He knew it. He blankly watched as the man clenched and unclenched his fists, eyes glued down. He looked like he was pondering a deep question, brows knitted and lips pursed, body hunched as his eyes sporadically fell on Blue’s. Blue just kept on staring. He didn’t know how Red would prove something like that, but honestly? He didn’t even care. The rising colour on the man’s cheeks did spark his interest, though.

 

 Red finally made up his mind. Blue expected him to sign something, about a memory or a made up quote, but instead the man planted both hands on the sidewalk. Blue frowned at that. How would he speak? Were they about to reach psychotic levels and do telepathy? He looked up, wondering what Red would do, when something pressed against his lips.

 

 He blinked. Once, twice, three times before it processed.

 

 Oh.

_Oh._

 

 Red was kissing him. _Red was kissing him_. He was pressing his lips against his, a light weight which sent waves of electricity through him and made his cheeks burn. Red’s lips felt chapped and rough, despite how soft the whole kiss was, and fuck. Blue’s brain melted, it evaporated, it transcended into the next dimension, cause hell. Red was kissing him. He didn’t know what to do besides blushing madly as his heart sped up, his breathing stopping altogether.

 

 As quick as it came, it left. Red pulled back, only a few inches, eyes going from Blue’s lips to his eyes. Blue was frozen on the spot. He was pretty sure he looked ridiculous, all bug eyed with a red face while being unable to breath. Red wasn’t much better, eyes lidded as he blushed till the tip of his ears.

 

“Y-you-“ he gagged, finally breathing out “You can’t just do that all of a sudden and-“

 

 Red force his eyes shut kissed him again. And again. And every time Blue opened his mouth to protest, until all that was left of him was a pile of goo as he finally melted and processed that yes, this was happening, they were kissing.

 

 With one last shuddering breath, he kissed back, a shiver coming up his spine as he finally felt his lips brushing against Red’s, not just staying there motionless. It was hesitant. Red clearly had never kissed anyone on his life, and Blue was too stars struck to even remember how to breath properly, but damn. It felt amazing.

 

 One of his hands came to tangle in Red’s hair as the other balanced him on the ground, a move Red took as an invitation to crawl further between his legs till his knees pressed against his tights. Blue’s senses were ablaze; he could feel Red’s breath tickling his cheek, the shudder than went through him when Blue grazed at his bottom lip, the hitch on his breath when Blue’s grip tightened on his hair and shit. Blue was dying. This could only be the afterlife.

 

 Red was the first to pull back. Blue didn’t open his eyes right away, keeping them closed for at least five seconds before he finally managed to open them. He didn’t regret it when he did. Red’s face was completely flushed as he panted, eyes avoiding him. He was so goddamn cute. Blue himself wasn’t much better, mind dizzy as his lips tingled, but hell he didn’t look half as adorable as Red did right now. And the man was the one to initiate it.

 

 Red. Who couldn’t even bring himself to start a conversation with him and left the job for his Pikachu. Red had kissed him first. Blue would need to get back to him.

 

_[-now?]_

 

“Uh?” Blue eloquently said, shaking his head. Red’s face managed to get even pinker, hands trembling slightly.

 

_[Get it now?]_

 

“Ah. I- sure, yeah, whatever.”

 

 Red finally faced him, crossing his arms. Blue blinked.

 

“Sorry, I’m just, still not over this. I mean. Wow. Just- wow.”

 

 Red managed to give a small smirk.

 

“No joke, I think you just absorbed all my communication skills. Like, there’s no way you’re the smug one.”

 

 Red only shook his head, grabbing his cap and fitting it down his head. Ah, there was the Red he knew. He was invited to take his cap off more often if he wanted to, though. His hair was soft as hell,

 

“But I swear, if you’re just fucking with me I’ll murder you.”

 

_[Am not.]_

 

“You better.”

 

  They stood there for a few more minutes, just watching the sea and occasionally changing glances till Red almost collapsed from sleep deprivation. Blue only sighed and offered him a hand, both of them raising to their feet and walking back to a well-deserved rest.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *makes red have a team rocket trauma*
> 
> Also me: *has an au where he and green are team rocket members*
> 
> All jokes aside, they still have a lot to go through. This is not the type of stuff that gets sorted with "true love", as you may expect, but it's a starting point. And if you expected Blue to miraculously figure it out and for Red to miraculously understand him... well, no. Sometimes you gotta talk for people to understand you. I'm writing this out of experience, so that's why I opted for this outcome... This talk was also one of the main reasons I started to write this fic, so sorry if you were expecting something more dramatic.
> 
> Some of you were worried I would stop writing this fic too... I just wanted to say that even if I take two months to write a chapter (like I just did), I'll never abandon this fic. Especially now that we're pretty close to the end! So worry not,I got you covered on that ;-)
> 
> Anyway, thank you all for still following this story! All your kind words are a real motivation for me, and if it were not for you I don't know if I would have made it past chapter 5. You all rock!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Istg this wasn't supposed to take so long, but then school started and this chapter waited an entire month to be edited and revised. Yall are allowed to kill me.
> 
> Also, I wanna say something: I wasn't expecting last chapter to get so many reviews, holy crap. You guys are amazing! I read each and every one of your words and I was just so happy to know you had liked it? It makes me feel kinda guilty I took so long to update my fic... I was also planning on answer every review after editing this chapter, but it took so long I kinda felt bad and couldn't bring myself to do it. Just know you all made my day, thank you.
> 
> Also one of you once asked me how old they are on this fic, and I felt like I should answer it on a chapter note: I imagine Blue to be around a year older than Red (since Red was the youngest champion back on the day, and that would imply Blue was older than him because he was champ first), making Red 11 and Green 12 when they started their journey. On this fic I don't have precise ages, but they're around 23/24. Maybe a year younger.
> 
> ANYWAY!!! This chapter is... slower and calmer than the past ones, and I'm so sorry for taking this long to post it. This was done was a month ago and I could be publishing chapter 12 by now, but life really got in the way, so sorry if you were expecting something really exciting and active for today. This one isn't as emotionally exhaustive, it's actually a break from all the pairing's drama.
> 
> Anyway, good reading! Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> (btw I've officially revised this fic and corrected all the typos it previously had. I don't know how you guys kept following this work tbh, it was filled with mistakes)

 Waking up felt like a blur. His eyes fluttered, a forgotten dream slowly fading into filtered white as his fingers twitched.

 The first thing he noticed was that this wasn’t his bed. He felt warm, from his cheek down to his legs, and his body was pressed flush against someone’s chest, fingers loose over a green shirt.

 Memories of the previous night caught up with his brain. He gasped, sitting up as his eyes shoot downwards.

 Red was sleeping below him, sprawled on his back with one arm falling off the mattress as the other slipped from Blue’s waist. His head was thrown to the side, breathings coming out evenly between his parted lips. Eevee was curled by his side, paws on top of his torso and head dug on his shirt. Lower, Pikachu stared at Blue with murderous eyes, its body trapped between his and Red’s body and Blue’s sudden motion probably having woken it up.

One hand came to scratch the back of his head, nails pulling at the stitches. He reached for his PokeNav, the device almost falling off his fingers as he scowled at the time displaying on the screen. The numbers seemed to mock him as he quickly swiped his thumb lower the luminosity, the time dancing in front of him like something out of another universe. Four in the afternoon. That was late even by his standards.

 Red’s body shifted, his eyes scrunching below his eyelids. Blue watched as the man slowly blinked, looking around in utter confusion before his eyes fell on Blue. Blue grinned, letting the PokeNav fall back on the bed and poking Red in the chest.

“Hey.”

 Red blinked, rubbing his eyes with one hand before turning on his side, still facing him.

“What, still sleepy? It’s kinda late, ya know?”

 Red only kept on staring, Pikachu crawling between his arms and going back to sleep. Blue frowned, leaning back against the wall.

“What is it?” Red shook his head “C’mon, tell me.”

 Red sighed, shifting until he too was sitting, Pikachu resting on his lap as Eevee jumped off the bed with a huff.

_[What time is it?]_

“Four.”

 Red nodded to himself, one hand coming up to swipe his hair away from his face. When he looked back at Blue, his posture straightened a little, bottom lip caught between his teeth. His hair was sticking everywhere, tousled from sleep and looking like someone and electrocuted it. It was adorable in a way.

 Blue raised a brow, patiently waiting for the man to continue.

_[What now?]_

 Blue frowned.

“What do you mean ‘ _what now_ ’?”

_[Last night- Are we pretending it didn’t happen?]_

 Blue somehow knew perfectly well he wasn’t talking about Team Rocket.

 With a sigh, he detached himself from the wall, moving so he was sitting on his knees in front of Red, their height evening out. He forced himself to look at the man in the eyes, his stomach twisting as a weird feeling spread through his veins. _Arceus_ , he felt so nervous. He wanted to avoid this situation altogether, but the logical part of his brain blew sirens at the idea.

“Not unless you want to.”

 Red shook his head, releasing some of the tension from Blue’s shoulders. Okay. At least Red wasn’t acting like nothing had changed in the past twenty four hours. That was a start.

 However…

“What… what are we, Red?”

 Red looked away at that, his eyes sinking to Pikachu. Blue’s body was frozen on the bed, every ounce of his being waiting for the answer. A part of him wondered if Red had regretted his decision, the kisses being a thing from the moment, a thing made in hope of shutting Blue up. The idea made him feel sick.

 Coming to think of it, it was wild that Red had been the one evens starting it. Sure, the man was confident in his actions and had the tactical mind of a genius, but when it came to feelings? He was pretty constipated.

 Red raised both hands again, taking his sweet time to sign whatever was going on inside his head.

_[I said I wasn’t just screwing with you, didn’t I?]_

 Blue let out a relieved breath, body slumping down as he let himself crash forward into Red’s shoulder. Red jumped in surprise, his chin resting on Blue’s head as he tapped him on the back.

“It’s cool, just- are we- are we actually, _ya know_ , together? As in dating and such? You want that? With _me_?”

 Red huffed and pushed him away a few inches, crossing his arms and giving him _the look_. Blue raised both arms in defence, staring back with a nervous laugh.

“Just makin’ sure, just makin’ sure! Like, ya can’t just expect the idea to sink in so easily!”

 At that Red gave a shy smile, reaching out to ruffle his hair. Blue took the chance to crawl back between the man’s legs, cupping his face and placing a small peck on his lips. It set a rush of warmness to run through his face, delight feeling his chest as Red’s eyes fluttered.

“Payment for last night. Thought you could just kiss me like that and don’t get revenge? Silly, Red. Silly.”

 Red raised a brow, arms still crossed despite how pink his ears were getting. Blue rolled his eyes and leaned forward again, bumping his forehead against Red’s and smirking as the man’s face heated up. Ah. Guess Red really wasn’t used to this type of stuff.

“C’mon, let’s get up. Don’t wanna spend the rest of the day lazing around.” He whispered the words against Red’s lips, eyes stuck on his mouth.

 Red looked away and tried to hide his face, but Blue placed both hands on his cheeks and went in again. He rubbed his lips against Red’s, his cheeks burning as he pressed his body flush against him, Pikachu hissing and jumping out of Red’s lap. One of his hands went lower and cupped Red’s jaw, the other threading his fingers through his hair and pulling him against him. Red shuddered, hands awkwardly clinging to Blue’s sides.

 It felt as if he suddenly couldn’t control his body, actions flowing on their own as his mind went into a pile of static. He caught Red’s bottom lip between his teeth and pulled, Red gasping and tightening his grip of Blue’s waist. That was all he needed before he went forward again, clashing their mouths together and pressing his tongue inside Red’s mouth. He wanted to deny the moan that left him, but there wasn’t exactly anyone else in the room capable of making that sound.

 All embarrassment went away when Red grabbed his shoulders and pushed him away, face and ears competing with his namesake as he panted, looking like someone who had been completely and utterly fucked. Blue gulped, licking his lips and feeling kind of dazed.

“Too much?” he breathed out.

 Red nodded, hiding his face in his hands and letting his head fall back against the wall. Blue laughed, whole and with meaning as he watched Red basically fuming in embarrassment because of a kiss, because of _him_. It made him feel really proud in a way.

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll go slower next time.”

 Red peeked through his fingers at him, definitely pouting. Blue laughed again.

“Damn, you look like- like a freaking _Slugma_.” He was grinning so much his cheeks hurt, and it got worse when Red pulled his hands away and gave him a scandalized look. Then he fucking lost it.

_[What the hell, Blue!]_

“ _You do_!” he managed to say between his fit of laugher, suffocating from lack of oxygen. Red’s eyes managed to get even wider as he gaped like a Magikarp, hands flaying in the air as he tried to find words. It was hilarious.

_[You think I’m that ugly?!]_

“No, but your face is _red_ and you’re positively _melting._ Well, were positively melting. You- you still kinda are. Having a _melt_ down from all of this-“

 He was cut off when a pillow was thrown square against his face, his balance jumping off the window as he fell flat on the floor.

 This time, Red laughed with him.

-

They spent the rest of the day lazing around, not even bothering to put on proper clothes as they threw themselves on the couch and watched some Alolan soap opera till night fell. If Samson hadn’t gotten home and basically demanded them to help with dinner, they would have probably just starved for lack of will to get up.

-

 Blue was determined to not spend one more day doing nothing.

 The grandfather clock was chiming seven in the morning when he drew open the curtains, light invading the room and hitting Red straight in the face. The man scrunched his nose, turning around and raising the blankets over his head as Pikachu glared at Blue from under the covers.

“Wakey wakey, rise and shine-“

 A pokeball was thrown at his face, making him grin and catch it between his arms before it even hit the floor.  Red’s face was matching Pikachu’s, his brows knitting together as he stared at him behind half closed eyes, a pout at his lips.

“That’s not how ya say good morning, you know?” Blue said, throwing the pokeball back at Red and signing at the same time he spoke just to prove his point.

_[You hair’s weird.]_

“Well screw you too,” Blue poked at the wet strands falling in front of his face, wincing. He really disliked his hair when it wasn’t gelled up “Anyway, it’s time to get up! We have shit to do!”

 Red stared at him, tilting his head as the crease of his eyebrows subsided.

_[Are you taking me to Mount Hokulani again?]_

“What? No! To the Battle Tree! We haven’t been there in ages.”

 Realization dawned in Red’s face, his eyes widening as he nodded to himself. He sat up and reached for his bag, beginning to sort out through his clothing as Pikachu’s cheeks still sparkled in Blue’s general direction.

 He cleared his throat.

“Ya know…” Blue grabbed his own bag, searching for his hair gel “We could do _multis_ today.”

Red dropped his clothes, staring back at him.

_[Right away?]_

“Yeah, I mean… We ain’t gonna stand around for much longer, right? I think Mimikyu’s ready, but if ya don’t wanna bring Cubone-“

 Red shook his head.

_[No, I mean… Is it good to jump straight into it after a week of doing nothing?]_

 Blue smirked.

“What? You scared? Think it’ll be too much?”

 It hit exactly where he wanted it to. Suddenly, Red was up, signing _you wish_ before walking out of the room and into the bathroom. Blue only laughed, following him with his bottle of gel in hand and that damned yellow mouse at his trail.

-

 You know, he didn’t think his day would be something amazing.

 Okay, scratch that, he sort of hoped it would. Him and Red, battling side by side? That was something straight out of a dream. Even when he was kid he wondered what it would be like to battle by the boy’s side: if would be too easy (both of them were powerful), if it would be hard (their fighting styles were everything but similar), or perhaps it would be a welcome challenge that would magically make them get along,…

 Now? Now he knew for a fact it would be though, but after spending so much time analysing each other’s battle styles, he was certain it wouldn’t be exactly impossible to reach a common ground. This fact didn’t make him any less anxious, though. He wondered if Red felt the same.

  _Re-formulating_ : he didn’t think his day could get better than it already would, hypothetically, be. But oh boy was he wrong.

“RED, HOLY SHIT, MY BABY’S BACK!”

 His voice echoed through the nearly empty Pokemon Center of Poni Island, followed by the excited tap of his fingers against the computer. Nurse Joy shushed him, flashing and apologetic smile to the only occupied table of the Center, but Blue couldn’t give less of a shit if he tried. His _baby_ was back.

 Eevee raised itself on its paws and head-butted his shorts, confusion written all over its face as the pokemon tilted its ears. Blue picked it up and twirled around with the pokemon held high on his arms, a huge grin taking over his face as the computer finished with the pokeball swap.

“Girl, ya won’t believe who’s back! Shit, this’ll be awesome!”

 He placed Eevee on the floor, the pokemon taking a few steps back just as Red reached his side with a confused gaze and a paper cup of Tapu Cocoa on his hand.

_[Are you okay?]_

“If I’m okay?! Red, I’m fucking great!” Blue nearly screamed, grabbing his stuff and logging out.

 Before any other word could have been said, he threw his pokeball up, light flashing on every wall of the Center before the sound of something heavy collapsing was heard. In front of him, a morph of greens and reds and pinks shook its head, looking around in mild confusion before its eyes settled on Blue. Then the pokemon seemed to grin, vines coming up to pull its trainer against it as said trainer beamed.

“You’re back! Damn, I’ve missed ya so much – hey, don’t pull at my hair, it hurts – _shit, Bulba_! Hope you’re ready to make up for your long ass stay at a hospital, cause today we’re rocking!”

 Venusaur cooed back, letting Blue go as Eevee approached it. Then its vines found a new body to clutch to, wrapping around Eevee and pulling it on top of its head. Eevee didn’t know if it should be happy or annoyed, ears flat against its face as its tail wagged.

“Your flower looks great, too! Just like it was when you evolved! Damn, we really gotta go back to using all of those poke-fertilisers and sprays. Maybe I can get the League to cover up the expenses? Lance has a soft spot for ya.” Blue said while letting his fingers trail over the flower on top of Venusaur’s back.

 It looked much healthier than before, the purple completely vanished and giving place to a vivid red, the leaves underneath a dark shade of green. Venusaur itself seemed pretty happy to be back as well, twirling Eevee around and spatting out pokemon gibberish that Blue was pretty sure was some sort of essay on how the past weeks had been.

 His eyes focused on Pikachu, who slowly inched towards Venusaur in an almost shy manner.

“Hey _, Bulba_ , there’s someone here who wants to say hello too.”

 Venusaur looked up at him as Pikachu’s head snapped around in utter betrayal, the little beast immediately running to Red’s side. It was cute in a way. Pikachu had never interacted with _Bulba_ that much, neither inside nor outside of battle, but never in his life had Blue imagined the pokemon would get like that.

 Perhaps Pikachu was just unsure on how to approach a huge green beast without Eevee’s help.

“C’mon, _Pikapi_ , Skitty got your legs?”

 At that, Venusaur’s head turned to the side as if only now recognizing the other presence by Blue’s left. Its eyes scrunched, and then it looked back at Blue in confusion, as if asking if that _really_ was who the pokemon was thinking about. Blue nodded. Venusaur looked back at Red, and then its eyes trailed down to Pikachu.

 Not even a second later, Eevee was back on the ground as the vines came to pull Pikachu against its chest, a cooing sound coming from its mouth. Ah. Blue had forgotten how cheerful Venusaur was. Pikachu only blabbered, its shyness mopping away as it gave something akin to a giggle. It made Blue’s smile widen.

“It’s good to have _Bulba_ back,” he admitted, turning his head in Red’s direction “Think we can bring it with us?”

 Red nodded.

_[Blastoise needs someone to fight side by side with.]_

 Blue chuckled at that, one arm coming wrap around Red’s shoulder and pull him against him.

“We’re going classic, uh?”

 Red tipped his hat down and nodded again.

_[Mains, starters and alolans, right?]_

 Blue’s smile widened.

“Ya got it. Make sure your Cubone doesn’t fall behind.”

 At that Red smirked, hand signing one last time before he dropped the conversation in favour of his Tapu Cocoa.

_[I don’t have a Cubone.]_

-

 Turns out Red wasn’t lying. At some point during their fall apart, the tiny and clumsy pokemon had evolved into a strong and huge _Marowak_ , its Alolan form more breath taking in flesh and bone than in the pictures Blue had dug through. Both him and Mimikyu gaped at it, their battle against Guzma and Moon stopping shortly because _woah._ He was so _jealous._

“The fuck? You never seen a Marowak before?! Quit staring!”

 The moment was short lived as Guzma screamed at him, making Blue raise his middle finger before focusing his eyes back on the battled, mind still jumpy. He had to focus. He could gape at Marowak later. Breathing in slowly, he analysed the situation for the eleventh time in a span of fifteen minutes.

 The thing about battling with Red was: the man was too slow. Each move was a calculated balance between defence and attack, Marowak seeming to have easily adapted to this method despite its bashful attitude. It left Blue completely out of his comfort zone, since his style was more on the side of attack on top of attack with a dodge on the side.

 All in all, both of them were still trying to adapt to each other’s moves, and battling against a regional champion and a former gang leader who seemed to be in perfect synchrony was turning out to be incredibly difficult.

 Venusaur and Blastoise, the first duo to go, had been pretty good together - their stats were evenly distributed, the only differences being that Bulba was faster while Blastoise was sturdier. The rest? Not as much. Mimikyu would bump into Marowak whenever it had to take a quick dodge; Marowak barely missed Mimikyu when it attacked with _bonemerang_ ; both of them went at their respective speeds with no care if the other was following,…

 Blue could only clench his fists and try to keep his voice level, not wanting to give Guzma the satisfaction of even thinking he was getting the upper hand on multi-battles.

 Something had to change when Moon’s Skarmory managed to knock Mimikyu out, the pokemon falling limp on the floor on its first official battle. Blue switched it out for Eevee with heavy shoulders, his chest aching. Damn. That must have hurt the pokemon’s fragile pride.

“ _We need a strategy_.”

 Red nodded, lips pursed as his hands kept on giving orders.

“Most people either leave one on the defence as the other attacks, or go for combos like these two weirdos are doin’. And I don’t know about you, but there’s only one of these options we can actually do.”

 At that Red turned his head towards him, eyes narrowed. Blue arched an eyebrow.

“What? Ya have anything better?”

_[Neither Marowak nor Pikachu can take every hit.]_

 Okay, Blue wasn’t expecting Red to get that _he_ was going to be ‘the wall’ so soon. He wasn’t complaining though. Red understanding it this soon meant less explanations for him to give.

“I’m not expecting you to, idiot. What? Is this the first time you play on defence? Did you not learn its many types in poke-school?”

 Blue had to force himself not to smirk when his words hit the nerve for the second time this day, Red glaring back at the battlefield as he told him to shut up. _Perfect_. In front of them, Marowak stepped down from a flamethrower as Eevee hissed behind it.

“C’mon Red, let’s knock this bitches the fuck out.”

 All the pent up frustration faded away as the minutes started to tick by. Eevee hadn’t bumped into Marowak yet, and Marowak was doing a pretty good job of taking most of the damaged while countering. More than once it managed to land a perfect flamethrower on Skarmory, Eevee jumping over the fire and throwing shadowballs at Guzma’s Pinsir.

 Everything faded into a rhythm, a quick succession of moves. Marowak blacking out after defeating Skarmory didn’t break it, Pikachu jumping in and seeming to be in full harmony with Eevee. The two small pokemon ran around like arrows, managing to fight individually while simultaneously taking advantage of each other’s power: Pikachu drew attention to itself while Eevee sneaked in and took out Pinsir; Eevee sprinted towards Moon’s Vaporeon as Pikachu shocked anything that got too close to Blue’s pokemon.

 Gradually, the battle became something he could enjoy. He still preferred battling alone, don’t take him wrong, but… There was something exciting about having someone by your side; there was something akin to ecstasy when you knew you could go all out because someone had your back; there was something making Blue’s heart beat like crazy as he threw orders left and right with no need for exuberance and deep strategies behind his moves.

 There was something that made him feel alive. He didn’t know if that was because he was fighting alongside the best trainer he knew, or if it was because it was Red specifically, or if he just liked having someone beside him. He just knew he hadn’t felt this raw energy during a battle for a long, long time.

 Well, a battle that wasn’t against either Red or Gold, at least.

 Both his body and mind were so focused on the wave like motion of the battle, it didn’t even register it had ended till lighting flashed through the air and Guzma’s Honchkrow fainted in the middle of the arena.

“What the hell! _Guzma, what’s wrong with you_?! Letting bitchy ass Kanto boy win like that?!” Guzma’s voice boomed like thunder, the sound echoing through the entirety of the Tree and mixing in with the blowing wind.

“Eevee and Pikachu at the same time, it ain’t fair!” Moon whined, falling to her knees with a dejected expression.

 Both Red and Blue blinked as they looked at each other, then back at their pokemon. Pikachu was running towards them with a sleepy face, as if either it was too tired or the battle had been too boring. The mouse jumped on Red’s shoulder and rubbed its cheek against him, faint yellow sparkling and making Red’s hair stand a bit higher on his right side. Eevee, on the other hand, was dragging its paws through the floor and whining as much as Moon. Blue reconsidered his life choice of treating the pokemon like a princess. He really needed to give it a diet and train it more often.

 He coughed, breaking away from his thoughts with a grin.

“Ah, the sweet sound of defeat. Can you believe this, Red?”

 Red had the decency to glare at him, despite the quiver of his lips. And people said he ignored social rules.

“ _Sweet sound of defeat_ my ass! You two weren’t even synchronized!”

“Like they say in Kalos, _des excuses_!”

“That’s the same freaking word but with a different accent!”

“ _Ex-cu-ses_!” Blue sang, repeating the word over and over again till Guzma positively fumed. Red slapped him on the back of his head as Moon sighed.

“It was a nice battle, though. It had been a while since someone defeated us in multis.” She said.

 Blue was cut short from making some sort of commentary by Red elbowing him. Sheesh. The guy really wasn’t letting him have his moment of glory, was he?

“Yeah, it was a cool starter on multis for us as well.” He said instead, rubbing his side where Red had hit “You two are leaving, right? We’ll go with ya, gotta change the teams a little.”

  _To match the new strategy._ Red seemed to agree, head bobbing in a barely there nod as he fixed his cap for the eleventh time that hour.

“I’m still calling it cheating.” Guzma grumbled, fists tightening by his sides.

“Oh, yeah, definitely. I cheated my way up the Battle Tree, using fake pokemon even.” Blue said in a flat tone, cuddling Eevee between his arms as he and Red followed the other duo down the fleet of stairs which would take them out of the arena.

“How did a Pikachu even take a direct fucking _solar beam_ and didn’t vanish? I’m calling it bullshit.”

“This ain’t a Pikachu, it’s a demon. Get it through your thick skull, dude.”

 Blue wanted to make fun of the guy, but he couldn’t even bring himself to. Years of working at a gym had made him far too used to people complaining when they lost. It didn’t mean Guzma’s reactions were any less funny. Damn, Blue was beginning to enjoy them even.

 The riddiculous picture of Moon and Guzma, side by side while stepping down the endless fleet of stairs, didn’t help either. Their height difference was so abysmal one could build a tower out of it. Seriously. Had this man taken concentrated doses of milk and steroids when he was a kid?

“Can you two just leave it be? A loss is a loss. Jeez, Guzma, it’s not like it’s the first time we’re forced to walk out.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t wanna lose against him!”

“Me neither! But their pokemon were stronger. We just gotta accept that and grind our way to the top, so that when we battle again, we win.”

 Blue whistled at that, receiving a tap on the head from Red. Whatever. Those were nice words for an eleven year old. When _he_ was eleven, he didn’t even want to accept there were people stronger than him.

 Guzma sighed, pulling at his hair as his other hand fiddled with the pokeballs at his belt.

“I guess it was a cool battle…” he mumbled, the words followed by something Blue couldn’t understand.

 Light filled their vision as they stepped out of the Battle Tree. The air was cooler today, the sun hidden behind scattered clouds and the woods not as suffocating as they generally were. Alola was quieter too, the whispers of nearby pokemon and people so faint one could almost mistake them for the softly blowing wind.

 It didn’t feel like Alola at all. It was too close to a Summer day in Kanto, the only difference being the tall palm trees instead of the massive oaks that covered half of the region.

 His thoughts were broken by Moon gracefully turning on her feet, hands behind her back as she smiled. Blue raised a brow at her, Guzma following the motion with a cross of his arms as Red shifted closer to him.

“Oh, by the way, I wanna thank you!”

 “Uh… you welcome?”

“It’s my brother.”

 A light switched on his brain, his eyes widening for a fraction of second before he nodded, one hand coming to rest on his hip.

“Oh, for that! Did the kid listen to what I said or something?”

 Moon nodded at that, a cheerful smile taking over her face.

“Yeah, he did! He… He likes battling, but he never really had that passion, you know? He never had that excitement for winning and frustration for losing. It was weird. I’m not saying he doesn’t like battling, heck, he taught me basically everything I know about it! But… _Agh_!” she threw her hands up in frustration, groaning as if letting out her feelings would make the words she needed magically appear.

“Spit it out, kid. Leave his tragic story of doin’ nothin’ he liked for later.” Guzma said.

“Yeah, right, uh-Anyway, guess what? Two weeks ago he came to me and said he’s applying for some pokemon genetics course! I mean, that stuff seems boing as hell to me, but damn. I’ve never seen him so excited about anything in my life! And I _live_ with him!”

“Wait, he’s taking what now?” Blue stepped forward and clasped both hands on her shoulders, the girl nodding.

“Pokemon genetics! Ya know, the new course that has been appearing on every newspaper for about a month now? I didn’t even know that existed, to be honest.”

“Alola has a school that teaches that?”

 Because if Blue remembered well, the only place where one could take that was…

 “Nah. Here’s the part that made mom lose her shit: he’s going to Kalos.”

 And Blue lost his shit as well, stepping back with a huge grin as he grabbed Red’s arm to balance himself.

“Holy shit, that kid’s crazy! He jumped ten points in my approval list!” he wheezed “Kalos?! Oh man, that’s beautiful!”

“I know right?! That’s so far away! But wait- you were in Kalos, right?!”

“Heck yeah, I was! Where do you think I learned the word _excuses_?” he gave one side eye at Guzma, who automatically flipped him off with a hint of a smile on his lips. Blue snorted at that, repeating the crude gesture.

“Cool! Can you tell me about it? I want my bro to be prepared for everything! He ain’t as old as he wants to be yet.”

 So Blue told her. They sat by the road for at least two hours, him answering everything that came his way as Moon took each word with an eager smile. Guzma once in a while popped in, the bug type studies he had done and the Kalos cuisine catching his attention. Red was quietly listening too, and for the first time, Blue realized he had never really talked to the man about one of the best years of his life.

 He made sure explain seemingly unimportant facts in great detail, like where and how his apartment was and how much of a mess the convenience stores were at 10am, to make up for that fact.

 He didn’t leave out the detail of how annoying the region champion was either.

-

 For the first time in a month, the Alolan sky was grey. The living room was bland, no yellow light filtering through the blinds and giving it the lively aura it usually had as Blue stepped into the room, scratching his head. The couch was bathed in shadows, a mess of blankets from the previous night covering it as the TV hummed lowly. He didn’t know why the device as turned on, but he made no move to change the fact as he turned to the kitchen.

 The kitchen looked as sad as the living room, the oven not reflecting the sun and the island feeling cold and wrong. It was amazing how much difference the sun made when you were used to it. Without all the summer vibe and warm colours, this house could pass as a Kantonian one any day.

 Blue yawned, taking the kettle out of the cupboard and filling it with water. It was weird how used he had gotten to this: to his uncle’s expensive tea collection, to the fairy types roaming around, to the Pikipeks chirping from dawn to noon, to the cheerful attitude most Alolans had, to Alola itself. It felt like he had lived there since he was a kid. Hell, it felt like he _and_ Red had always lived together in there since they were kids.

 He sighed, watching the kettle as the water slowly began to boil. He never wanted to get used to any of this. Alola was supposed to be a simple one month thing, a simple job related travel, a simple escape from his gym leader paperwork. He didn’t want to get used to how bright everyone was when Kanto was probably the dullest place on the entire planet; he didn’t want to get used to Samson when his grandfather was still around to remind him how much of a failure the past years had been; he didn’t want to get used to living peacefully with Red when he knew perfectly well that, as soon as the news of their relationship were out, life would be hell.

 But at the same time he was… comfortable. Don’t take him wrong, a peaceful life was boring by his standards. However… It felt nice. Every dispute at the Battle Tree was a new one, not something the Kanto League had previously established with its rules about what pokemon Blue could and couldn’t use. There were countless islands to explore, each with its own pokemon and flora. To be quite honest, the only fault he could point was how stupid the fucking pokemon travel rules were in Alola – he had been riding a Pidgeot since he was twelve, it wasn’t now that he needed a helmet and a rider outfit to “safely” soar through the sky.

 He loved Kanto, but sometimes? He really wished he had been born in Kalos, Sinnoh, Unova, hell – even Johto seemed better. The only reason his region hadn’t stopped in time was because the place was flooded with tourists all year long – and even then said tourists never went to Viridian. It was always Saffron City, or Lavender Town since it had recently opened a theme park.

 The hissing sound of the kettle brought him back to life. Slowly, he made his way to the counter, grabbing a mug from the cupboard and filling it with the hot water. He opened the tea drawer and took out the first thing his hand reached – chai tea, great -, dipping it on the mug.

 He dragged his feet to the couch and dropped there, eyes landing on the kids movie passing on the TV. It was something about a white robot and a kid from a city that mixed Unova with Kanto – a huge hit Blue had never found the time to see. He was about to take a sip of his drink when the blankets shifted by his side, making him jump and drop some hot fucking _leaf water_ on his hand.

“Shit!” he hissed, hastily placing the mug on the floor and bringing his hand to his mouth “Fuckin’ hell, what the-“

 Mimikyu poked its tilted rag head out, a low sound escaping it.

“ _Mimikyu_ , what the shit, ya can’t just scare me like that! Did you turn the television on? And aren’t you hot under those blankets? _Fuck_.”

 Mimikyu made a weird sound again, wiggling out of the blankets and crawling on his lap. Blue took his red hand out of his mouth and pouted at the pokemon, his other hand patting Mimikyu’s back.

“Don’t scare me like that.”

 Blue poked at the pokemon’s chest, hearing a happy disgruntled coo in response. It quickly stopped though, Mimikyu looking down and poking at his hip. Blue raised a brow.

“What is it?”

 Mimikyu seemed to look up at him, poking his hip again and pointing at itself afterwards. Blue frowned.

“You hungry?”

 Mimikyu shook its head, a groan cracking in half as it shifted in frustration. The pokemon looked at Blue pointed at itself again, and then mimicked a shadow claw slashing in the air with no real harmful intention behind.

  _The gears clicked together._

“Oh, you mean yesterday? At the Battle Tree?” Mimikyu nodded, making Blue sigh “Ya know, pointing at the place the pokeball belt generally is ain’t really helpful to know you’re talkin’ about battles. I’ll try to memorize it, but damn Mimikyu, that was really vague.”

 Mimikyu cooed, hand going below its cloth again. Blue bit the inside of his cheek. Yesterday had been the first official battle Mimikyu ever had, and the pokemon lost. Blue had never in his life given any sort of pep talk after his pokemon fainted at first try. He used to scream at them and go through another sleepless night of training, while nowadays he just said “good job” or “you’ll get them later” whenever one of his pokemon fainted. Yeah. He wasn’t the most eloquent trainer.

 However, that was exactly what he had been trying to change for the past years. If Mimikyu needed reassurance that _yes_ , it was a good pokemon and _no_ , Blue wasn’t mad… So be it.

“I… I wasn’t the best trainer when I was younger.”

 He placed both hands on Mimikyu’s back, watching as the creature sat down and seemed to look up at him funnily.

“There’s no denying it, I was awful. I committed every mistake, even though gramps lectured me about everything I should and shouldn’t do ever since I was a baby. _Shit_ , I dunno how Pidgeot kept up with me, I trained ‘em pretty hard for them to be the best bird there is. Ya know how hard it is to have a regional bird competing hand to hand with the Elite Four? Yeah.”

 Blue leaned back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling fan. The background noise of the television faded into nothing, a low rumble that was only there to help him get his thoughts in order. At least with _Mimi_ it was easy to talk to. It’s not like the pokemon could full on judge him like a normal human being would.

“I had a Raticatte. Probably still do. She wasn’t strong enough so I placed her on the PC and never looked back at her again. Maybe I gave her away to some kid who came to my gym asking for a starter? Maybe gramps got a job for her? I dunno. That’s how much of a good trainer I am.”

 He looked back at Mimikyu, whose rag head was tilted at an awkward angle with the ribbon tied around its neck shading the lower half of its body.

“The point is: I don’t wanna do that shit again. It’s very uncool. I can’t promise I won’t get frustrated with ya sometimes, but… I’ll be the best trainer you ever had, you hear? If you wanna come to Kanto and take on battles at the gym, I’ll train you for it. If ya wanna be a domestic pokemon and do nothing around the apartment all day, sure, go ahead, I already have a full team. Do you understand?”

 Mimikyu only kept on staring. Blue sighed. No matter what, it was a pokemon, right? He didn’t know what kind of answer he was expecting. He picked Mimikyu up and placed it back on the couch, moving to get up and put his unfinished cup of the tea on the counter when a cold hand grasped his arm.

“What?” he asked, turning back.

 Mimikyu retreated its claw, moving forward.

“You… you got it?”

 The rag head bounced twice in affirmation, Mimikyu jumping on the floor and standing in front of him.

“Mimi-mi... Me s-sssee. Me see. Y-you see?”

 Blue blinked down at the pokemon, face blank. A few seconds seemed to pass by when he finally leaned down and picked the creature up with one arm, the other still holding his cup.

“I have no idea what you’re trying to say, but the answer is yes.”

 Mimikyu seemed happy enough, chirping and cuddling against his chest. Blue smiled, beginning to walk towards the kitchen again.

-

 Everything fell into a rhythm afterwards. They woke up, got breakfast (sometimes Samson would be around to prepare something for them), went to the Battle Tree, explored, came back. The same thing, over and over again, but each time feeling slightly different.

 Only one week afterwards, on a rather rainy Wenesday, did the chain of events broke. He and Red were returning home after a rather intense day at the Battle Tree, their bodies sore and Blue’s stitches hitching from the sweat. Red had one arm wrapped around his waist as he skimmed through his PokeDex, reading something about Orincos as Blue tried not to think much of the clearly touchy feely way they were walking.

 It’s not like he disliked it. Far from it. It’s just that… Just the idea of their relationship coming out on the front page of some magazine made his stomach turn. He was never open about his love life, and having a header scream “Rivals to Lovers” or a four page long wall of text speculating for how long they had been dating sounded exhausting.

 He would rather have people talking about his and Gramps relationship than his and Red’s.

 He was mourning over it when a voice called out to him, making him turn his head as Red slowly lifted his gaze from whatever info he was reading. In the distance, he saw a boy no older than fifteen running up to him, one egg between his arms as an Incineroar walked beside him with another four. It wasn’t until the boy stopped in front of him, panting and sweating from very pore, that Blue realized just who he was.

“Sun?!” he loudly asked, the boy only raising a brow at him and fixing his posture “Watchu doin’ with all those eggs? Gonna turn into a breeder or something? No shade, my friend Gold turned to that after becoming champion.”

“What? No. You think I’m a nanny?” Sun placed one hand on his hip, the other holding out the green and white egg “I’m doing volunteer work at the shelter till autumn comes. These are under my care, since, ya know, they’re technically mine.”

 It was Blue’s turn to raise his brow, picking up the egg and turning it on his hand. It was lighter than he expected, and it didn’t feel as solid as it should be. Probably a recently laid one. He remembered some of Gold’s long ass rants about eggs, even though he could care less about them.

“Does this have anything to do with your trip to Kalos, hm?”

 Against all odds, Sun went silent, the tips of his ears reddening. Blue shot a glance at Red before nudging Sun’s leg with his foot, causing the boy to look up at him.

“Is it?”

“My sister told you about that?” he looked mildly embarrassed about the fact, eyes not meeting his.

“Wasn’t she supposed to? It’s a life changing moment for you, man! I never thought you’d follow my advice so soon!”

 Sun only grunted in response, reaching out with his arm and taking one egg from Incineroar ‘s arms.  He twirled the dark red thing between his palms, eyeing it for what felt like hours before finally answering.

“I dunno. I’m just going to study there and see what happens. Pokemon genetics always got my interest anyway. Gladion flipped his mind when I told him, and mom was trying to hide it but I knew she was… disappointed. It’s tough not to follow family tradition, but it’s not like I wanted to just battle and compete forever without a care for anything else.”

 He stopped twirling the egg and looked up at Blue, his posture mirroring the one he had that day at the Battle Tree. Only that now his eyes weren’t blank: they shone in fierce determination, the look followed by his wrinkled clothing and dirty face.

 The bravery it took for him to change his life in a span of three weeks was something Blue could admire.

“So I wanted to thank you. I don’t wanna be cheesier than I already was, so let’s just say you can take that as a gift.”

 Blue almost gagged at that, eyes shooting to the small egg in his arms. He and a baby pokemon? Fuck, he hadn’t taken care or hatched one since he was like, fourteen.

“Are you sure? I’m not-“

“Scared of a pokemon?” Sun cut in, tilting his head and looking at him with his signature neutral look. Damn, guess adorable and shy Sun just flew out the window.

“Who? Me? You wish, kiddo! I’ll take so much good care of this pokemon, its birthday will become a national holiday!”

 Sun snorted.

“Yeah, yeah. Wanna live to see that. And you, mister Red-”

 Only at the mention of him did Blue realize Red still had one hand on his back, and he gulped, taking one step to the side. Red shot him a look before putting away his PokeDex, his attention turning to Sun.

“I want you to take one as well.”

 It was kind of adorable the way Red’s face opened up in curiosity, puzzled as to why a kid was giving him an egg. He pointed at himself, the look completed by Pikachu jumping on his shoulder and eyeing the egg with a tilt of its head, and Blue had to suppress a grin. Red and an egg, that would be fun. There was a reason Red never finished the PokeDex, and the reason was because never once in his life had he hatched a single egg.

“It’s not as strong as that Pikachu, but I’m sure you’ll like it. Oh, it’s a Litten by the way. Yours is a Rowlet, Blue.”

“ _Oooh_ , we’re getting Alolan starters? Sweet!” Blue said excitedly, watching his new unborn pokemon. Rowlet’s final evolution was a ghost type. He didn’t have that many ghost types on his team. Besides, it was both cool and pretty with a side of mystery. He liked it.

 Red took his egg with wide eyes, clutching it to his chest as if afraid it would break. Pikachu, on the other hand, turned its nose at it, eyeing the thing warily.

“Well, I better get going now. Maybe we’ll meet before you leave.”

 Red nodded, still eyeing his egg. Blue was the one who stepped forward, flashing a cheeky grin.

“Maybe so. And Kalos, right? If ya need anything call me, I know my way around the place.”

 Sun nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“I know.”

-

 Everything was going too well. If he was honest with himself, he even forgot that a group of wannabe villains was popping up in Kanto. His mind was elsewhere.

 Like on how bold Red was with cuddling and public display of affection, yet grew flustered with a simple kiss. Or how he seemed to love whenever Blue called him _babe_ or shamelessly flirted with him, even though he put on his _strong and stoic champion temperament_ and pretended he hated it. Messing with Red was always fun, no matter the context. Especially when he got hugs out of it.

 If Blue was honest? He was expecting it to be… weirder. And awkward. Maybe a mix of the two. Instead, he and Red acted like they always did: they made competitions to see who finished their breakfast faster or who managed to waste less potions; they took walks while Blue filled the silence with a hundred topics as Red asked one question or another; Red was still an insufferable bastard while Blue still said the wrong things and the wrong times;… The only out of the norm things were the eggs they always carried in their bags.

 But now he didn’t have no imagine how Red’s lips tasted like, or explode from how much he just wanted to crash in his arms once in a while and never wake up. He could just do those things, only that he was still prideful and made a ritual of giving huge talks whenever he wanted attention. Something told him Red knew this and just found amusement in all the wild shit Blue invented to get physical attention (“oh no, I hit my knee and can’t get up now. Red, you gotta carry me to bed, there’s no other way, I’m dying. You want me to die?”).

 Samson had also finished the project he and Kukui had been working on, so now he spent most of his time at home, more specifically at his underground lab. Blue found out the man knew almost every juicy gossip there was to know about Alola, and his uncle wasn’t shy about sharing them with him. Family genes, he guessed.

 All in all, he had completely forgotten he was supposed to return home in four days until Daisy called him. He was on his room, sitting on the bed with his back against the wall and watching as both Eevee and Mimikyu jumped around Venusaur (who surprisingly fitted on the space between his and Red’s bed), when his PokeNav rang.

“Daisy?”

“Not as grumpy as last time, I see. And what’s with that hair? You goin’ for undercuts? No shame, it fits you.”

 Blue rolled his eyes.

“Hello for you too. And I didn’t choose to cut my hair like this, thank you.”

“What? Alolan laws forced you?”

 Blue snorted. That sounded like something Alola would force on people.

 Well, Daisy would find out at some point, right?

“I got stitches.”

 A beat of silence. Then-

“YOU GOT WHAT?!”

 Blue scrunched his nose as his ears seemed to burst out of his body, the three pokemon in front of him jumping and standing in battle position. He shook his head at them, looking back at the screen when the three beasts lowered their bodies again.

“ _I got stitches_. Had them the last time you called too, why do you think I was wearing that lame jacket? As you can guess, they had to shave my head back there to do the do.”

“BUT WHY DO YOU-“ she stopped, clasping both hands in front of her mouth and taking in a deep breath “Why do you have stitches, Blue Oak.”

 Blue scratched the back of his head, looking away.

“I fell.”

“From a high height? By Moltres, you didn’t break your legs, did you-“

“What? No! I just hit my head! And it wasn’t a high fall. Me and Pikachu were on a cave, a pokemon appeared, Pikachu decided to be an idiot and electrocuted me and _boom_. You can deduce the rest. Broke Gramps’ necklace too.”

 Daisy just gaped at him for what felt like hours, hand slowly lowering until it was out of view.

“But… are you okay?”

“Obviously. You thought a yellow beast was enough to kill me? Not fucking likely.”

 Daisy sighed in relief, shoulders relaxing as she shook her head at him.

“I’ll scold you more once you get here. There’s something important I need to tell you right now.”

 At that moment, Red opened the door and stepped inside, giving a sceptic look to Venusaur. Blue only shrugged as an answer. If the pokemon fitted between the beds and was having fun without breaking anything, who was Blue to call it back?

“Is it about _them?_ ”

“Yes- is Red with you?”

 Blue looked up at the man in question, who only nodded. Blue looked back at the screen, patting the empty spot next to him.

“Yeah.”

“Then-“

“He knows.”

 Red sat by his side, giving Daisy his typical deadpan look and a peace sign. Daisy glared at Blue, as if trying to transmit “ _I told you not to_ ” in one single look.

“Not my choice by the way, he was being a nosy bastard and listened to our last conversation.”

“Red.” Daisy said, turning her glare towards him “You shouldn’t listen to people’s conversations.”

 Red only shrugged, causing both Blue and Daisy to roll their eyes.

“Anyway, since he knows… Can you spit it out already? This tension’s killing me.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Daisy.” Blue groaned as Red nodded.

 Daisy sighed, giving them one last stare before speaking.

“We found them.”

 The air seemed to drop, leaving him breathless as all sound vanished. His mouth was moving but he could barely hear himself speaking over the deafening sound of his own heartbeat, the muscle clenching painfully on his chest.

“How?”

 A beat of silence.

“Sabrina lured them. For the past two weeks, she left her pokemon unguarded and where even a child could harm them. Sure enough they took the bait and tried to attack her Mr. Mime… We managed to quietly arrest them and extort info out of them. The couple we caught didn’t talk much, but they gave away their team hideouts.”

“ _Hideouts_? As in, more than one?”

“Yeah,” Daisy nodded “They’re dispersed through Kanto to avoid getting caught. Smart of them, if I may say so myself. Don’t worry though, they aren’t large in numbers. Their lairs are mostly apartments or abandoned buildings.”

 Blue hummed in response. Red tapped his arm.

_[What do they want.]_

 Good question. Blue nodded and turned to Daisy.

“And what’s their objective, really? Their motto? Do they have a name?”

 Daisy shook her head.

“Like I said, they didn’t speak much. One of them did say they would take down the League once and for all though, so I guess our theory was correct.”

“They wanna take down the Elite Four and the championships,” Blue finished for her, bringing one hand to his chin “It’s so sketchy… I can’t believe they managed to even lay a finger on gym leaders’ pokemon. It makes no sense.”

“They’re stealthy, we gotta give ‘em that…” Daisy coughed, bringing one hand to her mouth and looking away “Well, since _you_ already know…”

 Red tilted his head as she nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, eyes shifting to the side.

“It makes this easier: you need to come to Kanto sooner.”

 Red blinked at her as Blue frowned.

“Sooner? Why? Is our aid really necessary? Aren’t there like, another billion people there who could help? I’m pretty sure Gold’s cousin, whatever her name is, is around Kanto too. And what about the police?”

 Daisy sighed.

“The police would attract attention. Besides, people are expecting you two to come back on Monday. You’ll probably have the media following your ass all week when you come back so… better return sooner, when no one’s expecting.”

“And help take them down. Sweet. Is anyone else gonna help or-“

“Lance is stepping down to help under the disguise of being sick, along with a few gym leaders and well known trainers. And by well-known trainers, I mean Lyra, Gold and Silver. They’re tracking down one of the hideouts in the outskirts of Kanto right now. There’s this girl, Leaf, who’ll also step up when the time to attack comes.”

“ _Great_. Also tell me one thing: if my man Red here didn’t know, would you pretend nothing was happening, lie, or would you force me to tell him this out of the blue?”

 Both Red and Daisy stared at him as his eyes stuck on Venusaur. Bold, maybe rude, but that’s what he had been thinking about ever since Daisy said that they needed to come back. The venom on his voice was touchable, because no sound was heard for the long seconds that followed. Red elbowed him, but Blue only shrugged him off. How he could accept it was something Blue couldn’t understand. The man was all mad because Blue had kept it from him, and now wasn’t even curious as to what would happen if he didn’t know shit? Shoot him.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know.”

“Blue-“

“No, no, I get it, you didn’t think that far. It’s just that, you know, only now I’m realizing that hey, perhaps him being nosy was a good thing.”

 Red elbowed him again. Blue’s head snapped to the side, his glare piercing.

“What?”

 Red stared back.

_[Drop it. This isn’t about me now.]_

“Yeah, but-“

_[Blue.]_

 Blue purse his lips, glaring at Red as the man stared right back at him. This went on for a while before Blue sighed, crossing his arms and letting his body fall back against the wall. Red sighed, placing one hand on top of his, just outside of the camera’s view. Blue let out a breath, one hand combing through his hair as his fingers laced with Red’s own.

“Fine, I’m sorry, let’s keep going.”

 Daisy was still tense.

“You’re right though. Though it wasn’t just me who wanted to keep this a secret, you know? But let’s not talk about that right now, last thing I want is for us to argue.”

“Same on that.” He mumbled “So we gotta leave sooner. When?”

“Lance says tomorrow.”

“Lance is fucking crazy, but okay, whatever. Anything to stop the bad guys, right?”

“Hey, at least he didn’t say today. Be grateful for that.”

 He grinned and shout something back, probably an insult towards Lance, the League, some weird grunt from a rising criminal organization. Inside, however, he knew one thing: he wasn’t ready to leave Alola so soon. Not with everything that happened over the course of one month, and especially not now that he was so used to its rhythm.

 Fuck Alola for messing with him this much.

-

 The sun was barely up when they made their way towards the airport, luggage trailing behind as the cool wind blew past them. There was no sound besides the rustling of leaves and the crunch of dirt beneath their feet, all pokemon kept inside their pokeballs as the three men stopped in front of the building’s door. In the distance, a Fearow flew by, followed by a group of Pikipeks.

“This is it.”

 Blue turned around, one hand gripping his trolley. Samson was smiling at them, his lab coat resting awkwardly on top of a rugged Staryu printed shirt and denim long shorts. Blue bit the inside of his cheek, eyes fixing on the ground as his eyes began to feel funny.

“Yeah.”

“Having you two around was fun, even if I we didn’t spend that much time together.” Samson said, voice lower than usual as both as his hands rested on his hips “Don’t forget your old man, ‘kay? I expect a call once in a while.”

“Yeah.”

 Samson laughed, loud and relaxed and managing to make Blue’s mood drop even though it was supposed to cheer him up. He bit his lip, clenching his fists to conceal how shaky his hands were.

“I packed you some malasadas for the trip, and fitted some tea in a small plastic bag. Oh, Red, I forgot to say but the box I gave you earlier had items that should help with those two eggs of yours – I’m sure you two will figure out how to use them.”

 Both of them nodded, Blue’s eyes still on the ground as he shifted from foot to foot.

“Thanks, uncle. We appreciate it.”

 Samson nodded.

“Everything for my Kanto boys! But now you should go. The check in could take a while.”

 Both of them nodded, Red picking up his bag (when had he dropped it?) as Blue gripped his trolley harder. He was about to say goodbye when his uncle interrupted him.

“And Blue?” he felt two hands reaching for his face and tilting it up, Samson’s smile coming into view “Chin up, okay?”

 Blue felt his throat close up as he hastily nodded, stepping back and not so discretely rubbing his eye.

“Yes-yeah- _yeah_. I know. See ya around, uncle!”

“See ya.” Samson nodded, this time speaking to both of them “And don’t forget to call when you arrive!”

“Yes, uncle!” Blue turned around, gripping his trolley and waving behind him with his free hand “I’ll also remember to wash my clothing and brush my teeth every day!”

 Samson’s laughter was the last thing he heard before he entered the airport, face burning as he tried to get away before anyone even saw him rubbing his eyes again- and oh well too late. Red’s hand touched his shoulder.

_[You okay?]_

“Yes, I’m just- yes,” Blue managed to choke out, voice shaky “Fuck, you must think I’m a crybaby or something.”

 Red shamelessly nodded, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Asshole!” Blue smacked him across the shoulder, gaining the attention of two other people hanging around the waiting room. Red only chuckled.

_[You’ve been an emotional drama queen since we were kids, I don’t see why you’re pointing that out now.]_

“Excuse me? I was a badass kid, not some crying boo boo.”

_[You threw a fit when Leaf accidentally dropped milk on your shoes.]_

“I was like, four, so shut up. And those were expensive Charmander printed shoes.”

_[You cried when you scrapped your knee running away from a Poliwag.]_

“Any kid would, so I don’t see your point. Remember when you bawled your eyes out after falling from a bike?”

_[I didn’t ask for you to kiss it better.]_

 Blue stuttered at that, face red in embarrassment as he threw his head to the side. Fuck Red. But also _fuck Red_ you feel him?

 He was about to start complaining again when Red tapped his shoulder again. Blue looked at him, immediately knowing what the man would ask when he laid eyes on that small grin.

_[Feeling better?]_

 Blue stopped, eyes never leaving Red’s. His heart was still jumpy. He had never felt so sad about saying goodbye on his entire life. But then again, he never really felt like someone’s son either, so he supposed it was fair.

“Yeah, I think so.”

 Red nodded, one hand holding Blue’s arm as they made their way towards the check in line.

 Perhaps it wasn’t so bad to show how he was feeling once in a while.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm gonna split the next chapter into two smaller chapters to avoid rushing the end. I'll post them at the same time though, so next time I publish something, you can bet its the end of this story.
> 
> Thank you for following it this far! And if you can, please leave kudos or a a review!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR.  
> TODAY IS THE 21th OF JANUARY, WHICH MEANS I STARTED POSTING THIS FIC EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO. Time flies by.  
>  Talking about time, sorry this took so long. The first half was basically written literally months ago but then life got in the way and I just... couldn't keep up with it. But a new year arrived and I finally managed to get that sweet motivation to end this! I also had this chapter ready for like, five days but I wanted to make sure there were no typos (there are always typos, sorry guys, english ain't my first language and most things fly over my head).  
>  Anyway, I'm kinda sad now. This is the last official chapter and I'm just... what will I do with my life now that I finished writing this fic? Honestly the journey was amazing, and I have to thank you all for the amount of comments and kudos this got. You guys are the best, and I wouldn't be here without you!  
>  Since yall waited long enough, see you in the end notes. As always, have a good reading ^^

 Kanto was a never changing smudge of green paint, the colour broken by the occasional agglomerate of buildings and flowing rivers. It was the flattest of regions, no tall mountains breaking through the fat clouds and making children point out in excitement. Instead, it had Pidgeots and Fearows sailing through the skies, following the plane around and giving the region the truly rural picture it mostly was.

  Despite all he said about it, his heart sped up at the old picture laid below him, his hands dirtying the small plane window as he counted all the cities appearing before his eyes. The skies were still a dark blue and purple, a yellow line stretching over the horizon. His vision focused on the narrow, tree covered paths leading to Viridian, the possible darkest and most forested part of Kanto, and the one he called home.

 Red was staring too, hands clasped together on his lap as his eyes trailed over the region. His body was stiff, baseball cap hanging low on his face. Blue took it as the man being nervous about the landing, since the plane was drifting lower and lower until it eventually reached the Viridian airport, collapsing on the ground rather harshly.

 When the time came, they got out in silence. Getting through the checkout was surprisingly easy, and stepping out of the building seemed to be done in less than seconds. When turning on his PokeGear, he noticed a message from Lance, saying he’d meet them at the gym around four. At least he gave them some time to rest, although the idea that he would only be on par with the situation in a few hours was rather unnerving and made his stomach knot in curiosity.

 The air was cold, paling his skin and making his air blow in stiff strands. The sun, for once, didn’t burn him as he looked up, thick clouds scattered around and announcing the arrival of autumn. There were no fairy types or small birds roaming around, but he could feel the eyes of dark pokemon on his neck, the hard on stare of wild beasts as he and Red walked through the outskirts of the city. He gripped the egg between his arms, its smooth surface cool to have between his arms. Praise Sun for giving him one.

 Blue broke the silence when they reached a small, yet smooth road leading towards the Viridian residential area, Red jumping at his voice.

“We never really talked about this but… you gonna stay, right?”

 Red looked ahead, eyes stuck on the ground. He nodded, the movement stiff.

“Good. And watcha gonna do about your mother? You gotta see her, you know? You can’t just… hide and never speak to her again. She’ll wonder where you are.”

 Red didn’t answer. Blue sighed, looking out of the road and into the rising light pouring over the tall buildings. He took a large turn, trying to avoid the residential main street and all the loud bantering and tight sidewalks of 8am. It would take around five minutes longer to reach the gym and, consequently, his apartment. But between that and having people gaping and quite possible ruining the exact reason as to why they came earlier in the first place, he chose to sweat a little.

“Well… That’s a topic for later. I gotta show the city around to your sorry, missing-for-six-years ass anyway. Did you know they’re building a huge tower for some foreign company, a few streets away from the Pokemon Center? It’s been chaos.”

 Red seemed to find that topic interesting, because he finally raised his head and blinked at him, hands leaving the wrinkled and abused fabric on the bottom of his shirt where he had been tugging. He hadn’t let Pikachu out yet for some forsaken reason.

“Yeah. Unova stuff, radio related from what I heard.”

 The rest of the walk was far more comfortable than it had first been, the silence replaced by banal banter and the presence of wild pokemon becoming less and less noticeable.

-

 The door to his apartment felt heavy, the wood cranky and old, nothing like the modern and light material he had grown used to open in the past month. It was dark inside, the blinds closed and the faint smell of dust filtering through the air. Shit. He really should have paid someone to take care of the house once a week.

 He let his bags on the entrance and motioned for Red to do the same, both of them taking extra care with the eggs, and turned the on lights. Everything was as he remembered, the open living room untouched as the couch drowned in a series of pillows, one blanket neatly folded on top of a small table, his TV filled with dust. The bookshelves were neatly rearranged with books and some souvenirs he got here and there, the only things out of place being broken pokeballs and empty potion vials he never managed to throw away.

 On the left was a small kitchenette that he rarely used, as well as a table with four chairs pulled underneath it. Behind all of that, was a huge window that leaded to a small balcony. Blue moved towards it and pulled open the blinds, light filtering the air and spreading through the house. There was a fire escape by the balcony that lead up to the roof. He had been there quite a few times when he moved in, just gazing at the city. He had also spent countless nights thinking of how easy it was for anyone to barge in his house if they tried hard enough.

The only unnatural thing about his apartment was Red awkwardly shifting from foot to foot by the doorway. Actually, the sight of Red anywhere near his home, his quiet little bubble, and possibly the sanctuary and generally off limits space that was his bedroom was mind-blowing. He reached out for Eevee’s pokeball and let it out, the pokemon landing on the floor with a graceful hoop and immediately running off to the narrow corridor by the end of the living room, probably to curl over on his bed.

 That seemed to trigger his brain back into action, because soon he felt himself pushing away all the nostalgia and borderline happiness of being back and walked towards Red, stretching his arms.

“Welcome to my respectable place. Hope it both suits and exceeds the expectations of your caveman-like tastes.”

 Red punched him lightly on the shoulder – an improvement – and finally stepped forward, looking around with unsure eyes. Green found himself grinning.

“What? The furniture won’t bite, ya know? Or did ya think I still had the League’s posters plastered on every wall?”

 He winced just thinking about his childhood bedroom. Yuck. Just to think he had Lance glued over his bed.

_[Just looking for some of the pink leftovers you spoke about.]_

 He was taken aback at the off handed comment, remembering the conversation he and Red had all the way back to their first week in Alola. It made his grin grow, and suddenly he was returning the punch, watching with satisfaction as Red gasped in surprised and stumbled back.

“Shut it, the only pink thing you’ll find here is the toilet.”

_[The toilet?]_

 Red brought one hand to hide his gaping mouth, shoulders shaking in badly controlled amusement. And they called him a stoic hero. Pfff. It was laughable.

“Yes, _the toilet_. I think it’s rather nice to look at. Got any objections and I’ll kick you out.”

 He didn’t stand around to see Red’s answer. Instead, he strolled through the same path Eevee had taken, a yawn caught on his throat. Four o’clock. That was in about eight hours. Taking an hour to both eat and get there, seven. At least five of which he could use to rest. He had never been the kind to take naps, since he found them pointless and a waste of time, but right now? He couldn’t think of anything better. Especially since his dreams had been quite… dreamless for a while now. He wondered when his nightmares would be back. Not that he missed them.

“Dunno about you, but that trip killed me. Ya can stay around if you want, though I wouldn’t advise eating anything from the fridge unless you wand food poisoning. The packed cookies should be fine, though.” Arceus, he had to buy food, didn’t he?

 He was just reaching his bedroom when a hand grabbed his wrist. He turned around, one brow arching, only to find Red tilting his head at him.

“What I’m gonna do? Oh, I dunno Red. _Sell my soul to Darkrai maybe_ \- I’m gonna sleep. Do you wanna sleep?”

 Think of it, rare were the times he saw Red actually sleeping. He was always off to Arceus knows where in the middle of the night, either training or doing whatever he did when he was alone with his devices. A fleeting thought passed his mind, that maybe it had been Mount Silver. Even with guard pokemon, he doubted Red ever felt safe enough to sleep for hours on end.

 He would rather not think about Mount Silver when he was nearly falling dead asleep in the middle of the floor, though.

 Red shrugged, making Blue roll his eyes and grab his arm, dragging them off to his room. Fuck. No one had ever been to his room, not even his past lovers. Not because he was opposed to the idea, but because he simply rarely brought people over. It was more the other way around. Besides, between being a gym leader, a trainer, and having spent a year in Kalos, he never really had much time. So the place was often a mess, with his bed stands filled with glasses and cups, his shelves adorned with silly childhood stuff and photographs, and he had recently added plants in the mix. He liked plants, they were nice.

 Anyway, the point was: because no one had ever been there, he felt weird finally having someone over. Especially when that someone was Red. Now that he was back in Kanto, standing not much behind him, his skin warm under his hand, this seemed real, not just some vague summer moment that would end up buried in the sand as soon as they got back.

_I told I wasn’t messing around._

 This was serious. He and Red were really together, they were dating, and in less than eight hours they would be taking off some criminal aspirants when all Blue wanted to do was curl on his bed and never leave.

 He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Red falling face first on the bed, right next to a little ball of brown fur that was Eevee, his hat nowhere to be found.

“At least take of your fucking shoes, caveman. Or have you forgotten how we live here _in the civilization_? Thought the free trial that was Alola had brought the memories back.”

 Red chuckled at that, but did as he was told anyway.

 Blue walked towards the bed, throwing his jacket on a small bench by the wardrobe, his belt and boots following soon. He got under the covers in record time, his head feeling heavenly for finally being able to get some rest as his body shifted uncomfortably under the five layers of blankets. Red made no move to get under the covers too, and Blue refrained from commenting on it.

 Before he fell asleep, one sudden and panicking thought crossed his mind, making him blink and turn around to face Red, who stared back. His eyes were so unfairly pretty with their dark copper shade, along with his stupid straight nose and his plump lips and his soft dark hair.

  _This was real._

“If I wake up and you’re off, leaving me to deal with Lance alone, I swear I’ll come up that mountain and kick your ass.”

 Which meant, on its own way, don’t you dare to leave. And that was the irritating thing about Red, because he seemed to read between the lines just fine, giving him a small smile and a nod, leaning forward to place a kiss on his forehead. Arceus, the guy and unbearable.

 Blue let his eyes fall shut again, trying to ignore the fact he would need to get up later and adventure off to Moltres knows where. At least he would finally avenge Bulba.

 Surprisingly, the last thought that filled his mind before he fell asleep was that he probably should tell gramps he had arrived.

-

 No later than four and a half, he and Red were stumbling through the gym’s doors.

 To be completely honest, it wasn’t his fault. Turns out, Red hadn’t slept at all, opting instead to read one of Blue’s books about some special Torterra that became the heir of a prophecy and turned into a human. He had woken him up at three and a half, because _of course Red, Blue would have the time to fix his hair, change his clothes and eat in thirty minutes_. What was he? A pokemon?

 He did all of that in record time, but once he stepped inside the gym and saw the lights flickered on, a figure sitting by the end of it with a look of pure annoyance, he knew that it didn’t exactly matter.

 “Red, let’s go back to Alola. Actually, let’s leave and never return.“ he whispered.

“And here they are.”

The thing was: imaginary Lance was far different from real life Lance. For instance, Lance didn’t actually cuss or acted like an angry beast. The man was cool, collected, cared about appearances, had a huge passion for what he did, and probably didn’t dislike Blue as much as he believed he did.

 However, both Lances had one thing in common: those piercing hazel eyes that managed to convey every fibre of ire and disdain in the world while keeping a fine icy layer on top. It was a talent, really, how expressive the man could be with a single look. It was almost as if all those years training a dragon had turned him into one.

 Blue gulped, fists and eyes closed as he took a deep breath and forced a million watt smile on his face.

“Lance, my man, how’s the League goin’?”

“Very well! Would go even better if _a certain gym leader_ actually sent some trainers over once in a while.  Or got a notion of what arriving on time means.”

“C’mon, it was thirty minutes-“

“Indeed. You usually take around forty. It’s progress.”

 And there was Lance in all his splendour, with gelled up hair and a long coat over his blueish civilian clothes. Blue was surprised he wasn’t wearing a cape above it all, and he also wasn’t expecting the man to wear straight pants with normal looking shoes, but oh well. Everything to keep a low profile on this media ran world, right?

 Blue scratched the back of his head, acutely remembering he still had stitches there and _woah_ , when could he take them out again? Maybe he should visit a hospital after all this mess was dealt with. Red tensed by his side, eyes hanging low and half of his face shadowed by his cap. His hands were also fitted on his pockets, something he rarely did.

“Hello for you too, Lance” Blue said, a sly smile on his lips “Did you know there’s a conspiracy theory going around that you’re actually a vampire, since, ya know, you haven’t aged a day since I was seven?”

 Lance only kept on staring at him, as if trying to decipher if Blue was praising his looks or utterly mocking him. He must have settled on the first, since he just uncrossed his legs and shifted his piercing gaze towards Red.  
“You too. Could have warned before you left. Do you know how hard it is to keep your location hidden? You could at least have stepped down from that mountain once in a while to help. Or officially deny your title. Passing it to Gold is a nice option, too.”

 To his credit he wasn’t using his typical _I’m-so-disappointed_ voice. He was actually pretty level, voice flat but carrying more like a calm breeze rather than a turbulent storm. Perks of not being around Red for six long years. Blue remembered when Lance used to talk like that to him. Those days were gone, and quite honestly? Blue preferred it this way.

 Red shifted his gaze away, the only sign he had heard being the slight tilt of his head. Blue stared at him by the corner of his eye, and then waved his glance through the gym. He would need to clean this place before re-opening it. Dust was bad for pokemon.

“This can wait for later. You two know why you’re here, right?”

“Yeah, we do. It’s cause the League can’t do anything without or dashing looks and amazing talent.”

 He was almost expecting for Red to slap him, but when no pain came, he had to content himself with the roll of Lance’s eyes and the tilt of his chin as he got up. He could almost imagine his trademark cape swishing with the movement. Damn. He was missing that cape. Part of the reason Blue even had seen Lance as an idol when he was younger was because of his awesome style.

“Fine, fine, we know. When can we start?”

“Tonight.”

 Blue gagged on his on spit, coughing into his fist before giving Lance an incredulous look, voice strained as he tried to breathe.

“You mean, _tonight-tonight_?”

“No Blue, I mean tonight-tomorrow- of course I mean tonight-tonight.”

 Blue stared at him head-on, the move going on for little over ten seconds before a mystic force made him pull his eyes away. Lance really was a dragon. Or a wizard. Maybe a mix of both. The man also had the audacity to try and hide a smirk at winning a staring contest, like some five year old.

“We’re taking them by surprise, sure, but we need to catch all of them. They probably reunite during the night, so that’s when we-“

“They _probably_ reunite?”

“They reunite. Once a month. At night.” Lance corrected, glaring at him. Blue raised both hands, urging him to continue “We’ll attack when they’re all out working, so as to not leave any member behind. They are a small group and operate on different locations so as to avoid attracting attention, so we’re dealing with groups of either four or two people scattered throughout Kanto. They’re also… bad when it comes to battling, but their experience with poison and moves make up for it, so don’t underestimate them.”

“Sneaky. Where’s _our_ target.”

 Lance’s eyes widened just a faction, a faint moment of unkempt emotions before he was back to nearly scowling. Blue raised a brow at him. Lance, as expected, ignored him, eyes shifting between him and Red.

_“Lavender Town.”_

 “Of all the places we had to take ghost town?! Really?!”

 Lance managed to smirk without curling his lips, the mischief reaching his eyes as he stopped in front of them, patting each of their shoulders individually.  The man managed heighted the same as Blue, but his raw power made him appear inches taller than anyone who crossed his path. He was the typical poster boy for a Kanto Champion.

 Fuck. Now he couldn’t help but compare Lance to Red. They really were similar in that aspect, weren’t they?

 One look at Red told him to relax, because that was one of the only similarities they shared. Red’s fingers were curled over the side of his pants, his hat shadowing his eyes and his shoulders stiff. He may appear like the stoic poster boy champion of the region, but Blue knew better.

 He shook his head. His recent sleep must have been clogging his head. Now was not the time to think about such matters. Ah. If only younger Blue knew he would inwardly praise, and even come to stop envying Red’s whole demeanour…

 He looked back at Lance, who checked his silver watch and passed a hand through his hair.

“I wish we could have a reunion with everybody, but time is tight. Blue, your office has a desk and a map of Kanto, right? Along with one of Lavender? _Excellent_. Let’s look this over quickly, I still need to talk to your grandfather before the plan takes motion.”

“My grandfather?” Blue asked, face scrunching up in confusion.

“Yes, your grandfather. He has important data on the type of pokemon this group seems to use, as well as the available technology they possess and their routines. Didn’t he tell you?”

 One look at his face had Lance cough on his fist, chin moving to point towards the door at the side of the gym, where his office stood.

“Let’s not lose any more time than we need. Arceus knows you two take a while to understand plans. Good thing you seem to be on good terms now, makes things easier.”

 As the man walked in front of them, Blue felt Red brushing his shoulder against him, signing _are you okay_ with small and rigid movements. Blue rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Told ya gramps doesn’t bother me anymore. Didn’t think I’d speak to him anyway.”  
 He could see the way Red disliked the idea, but thankfully, the man kept quiet about it as they entered the office.

-

 Six hours later, and he was already hating the position they had been given. Lavender Town. _Why._

 The newly built theme park did nothing to conceal its creepy atmosphere, smoke rolling over the roller coasters and coating the neon lights adorning the ghost shaped tags. Violet, yellow and white lights were flashing everywhere along with the occasional orange, followed by shouts and laugher. Most of the entertainments were closed off, only the smaller and child related attractions active, preparing for the close down of the park in a few weeks. Apparently, the theme park took a three month vacation and opened again on January. Why? Blue guessed the placed was cursed.

 He and Red were currently sitting on a metal bench, waiting for their designed time. Five minutes, only five minutes. Five minutes of enduring the metallic taste of ghost pokemon floating around, of the cheers, the annoying cries of children, and the flashy lights covered in mist. Had he mentioned the metallic taste of ghost pokemon? Yeah, that too. Along with the icy wind blowing straight through his soul.

 Call him melodramatic. He hated this place. Besides…

 He shifted his eyes towards the abandoned Lavender Tower. The cemetery had moved a few blocks down the road, the old owners claiming the tower was both full and couldn’t take any more pokemon without having to take out old graves and coffins. And guess just where the new criminal organization had taken their lair to? Exactly. At least he gave them the credit of choosing a no frequented place. Team Rocket had been dumb enough to make their nests where trainers such as Red would cross.

 He didn’t want to go there though. He still had nightmares about that place, about the Gastlys and Haunters flying around, the dust, the paintings. He recalled having a recent dream with Mimikyu and Red in it, but he couldn’t quite remember it.

 The cold air didn’t help. Alola was so much warmer, it was insane. Blue was wearing two shirts, a jacket and a scarf and he was still cold. Red seemed not to care, wearing a thin crimson sweater and some scarf Blue had lying around, hat firm in place. The annoying park lights were casting on his pale, motionless face as he skipped though his pokedex.

 Blue jumped as the tower’s bells started to chime. It was time.

 He and Red got up, Blue reaching for the inside of his jacket and letting his fingers ghost over the pokeballs there. Red let his own hand trail to his belt, fingers resting on a particular pokeball. Pikachu’s pokeball. It had been a while since Blue had seen that mouse. Not that he missed it, of course.

 They walked in silence towards Lavender Tower, the streets nearly empty save from the few people leaving the park. The Tower was dark and imposing, the stone degrading each passing year and the windows broken. Only thing standing straight was a tag that read _Lavender Tower, home for the departed_ , a sign Blue had never noticed hanging on the door. He stared at the handle, wondering how they should do this. Wondering if it was too late to bolt. Fuck Kanto, they had dealt with worse.

 A tiny voice on his head reminded him of Bulba, and he found the fire back on his veins.

“Looks like you’ll be the saviour of our region again, oh cool hero of Kanto.” He muttered. Red shot him a glance, but otherwise stood neutral, as if nothing fazed him. It was weird.

 They just had to get in, get the guys currently hiding in the tower, take evidence from their hideout, and return to this exact point where two officers would meet them and take care of the rest. That’s all they had to do. Then he could say sayonara to this place and never return. Besides, these guys weren’t even that good. Even that disbanded Team Skull would be more of a challenge.

 Wordlessly, he opened the door, noticing as it lurched forward with a creaky sound. Hadn’t these people taken care of locking their hideout? Well, he supposed having it locked down would be suspicious, with all the teens trying to break in at all times to prove their courage (or so Blue guessed, those challenges were becoming quite popular now). But still. How sloppy.

 The piercing taste on his tongue got nauseating as he stepped in, humid air reaching his nostrils and making him curl in disgust, turning positively white. Red walked forward, glancing around before spotting the old stairs leading to the first level. He pointed with his head at them, and Blue forced himself to look up and nod. He wouldn’t look like a cowardly Mareep. That was so not cool.

“Sure. Try not to get bitten by a ghost, though. Or get paralyzed.”

 Red didn’t even roll his eyes, turning to the stairs and walking up. Blue frowned and walked after him, unwilling to stay back.

 The plan was pretty simple. Get in and find them. Apparently, thanks to his grandfather’s scan of the area, there had been implemented a hidden lab here somewhere. He desperately wanted to know how Gramps had found out, and why he hadn’t told him. The thought was unnerving. The guy calls him out for poisoning his own pokemon, gets proven wrong, and then doesn’t talk about his work on finding the true culprits?

 Blue sighed, reaching the first level. There was a large painting of a Cubone just to the left, just where he and Red had battled all those years ago. The thought was like a tiny light in the midst of the dark, grounding him to something positive. He hadn’t even known what he was doing in Lavender Tower at the time, but boy had he regretted it. He was so stupid for having gotten lost when the stairs to take him out were right here.

 Red grabbed his sleeve and tugged him forward.

“Hey, hey! I get it, I get it, let go. Jeez!”

 He rubbed at his arm, and Red flashed him and apologetic look before his face stuck on the ground again. A Gastly flew by, winking at him. He turned his nose.

 After five minutes of walking around, Red living up to his emotional constipated fame and Blue totally standing straight instead of walking like a scared Skitty, he had enough. Once they reached the second floor, he grabbed Red by the shoulder and spun him around, much to the guy’s shock.

“Okay, you’re driving me insane here. What the hell is going on with ya?”

 Red blinked and tilted his head. Blue held in the need to scream. He shouldn’t yell to the whole world that he was there, but if Red didn’t went back to being his insufferable self in five seconds he would do something he would regret.

“Don’t blink at me. You’ve been weird all afternoon. And don’t come at me with the ghost bullshit, I know you ain’t scared of these.” He pointed with his thumb at a family of Gengars passing by. Seeing a Gengar in the wild was kind of sad, since they only evolved after passing through a trainer’s hands.

 Red blinked again. Blue felt like punching him.

“What’s. Up. I’m trying to be a nice and caring person here, so you better tell me.”

 Red’s eyes widened a faction before he went back to his sour mood, stepping away. Blue crossed his arms, biting his lip on instinct.

“I’m serious, Red. What’s up?”

 After what felt like hours, Red sighed, waving his hand around in the most vague way. Blue frowned, looking around.

“What? Had bad experiences here, too?”

 Red stopped at that, peeking at him curiously.

_[You had bad experiences here?]_

 Blue coughed at that, feeling his cheeks heating up. He wouldn’t just blab that he had actually gotten lost here and cried over a few ghosts, no thank you.

“In a way, yes. Gastlys are a pain in the ass. You?”

 Red stared some more before sighing again, shifting from foot to foot.

_[You know...]_

“Oh no, not this you know story again. Please. One was enough.”

 Red gave an exasperated sigh, scratching his jaw before signing again.

_[Do you think they have poison type pokemon? I hate poison gas.]_

 And Blue felt like slapping himself. Again.

 They had talked about this weeks before, for crying out loud. Blue had been thinking about them twenty minutes ago. Someway, they were a shadow everywhere he went.

“It’s not them-them, you know?” Blue finally said after a lot of pondering “They appear smarter, so I doubt they go on with dark and poison types.”

 Red visibly relaxed at that, despite his till stuck up posture.

_[This is stupid.]_

 Blue smiled.

“You’re stupid. Not this.” And he received a kick in the shin, which wasn’t welcome but he also didn’t mind if it meant Red would be back to his normal self. Damn. “Besides, you got _moi_ now. Nothing’s happening to you while I’m around.”

 Red raised a brow at him, despite the way his lips quirked up in a small smile. Blue returned it, taking a hold of his arm and pulling both of them forward, through the thick mist covering the room and swirling around the graves. Red’s arm was still tense under his, so Blue decided to do what he was best at. Speaking.

“So, who did you bring? I wanted to bring Mimi, but the lil’ guy deserves a better debut in Kanto than some random bored guys. Besides, someone had to watch over the eggs- what? Thought I’d let your Snorlax alone with them? You’re mad.”

 Just the idea of Snorlax sprawled on the living room floor with the eggs resting on its belly sent a shiver down his spine. What if the beast ate them? Unlikely, but one never knew how pokemon’s brains worked. A perfect example of this was the tiny hoard of Cubones following them around the third floor, as if he and Red were some kind of cartoon for them to watch. Blue gave them a hard stare and watched with disdain as they didn’t even blink back.

_[Salandit]_

 Blue blinked.

“The fire lizard?” _Didn’t you just say you hate you hate poison types_ , Blue swallowed the words.

 Red nodded, scratching at the top of a shiny duskball. It looked fresher than any pokeball on his belt. Which reminded him-

“Where’s Pikachu? Not that I miss him, that mouse is a headache- literally. But it’s weird to see ya without him.”

 Red gave a nervous giggle at that, which would have been weird in any other situation but now made Blue’s shoulders relax a little. At least he wasn’t staring at his shoes anymore. Blue tugged him along a wall lined with old pokemon portraits as Red answered.

_[Mouse? Wasn’t he a rat?]_

“Oh, shut it. He went up one rank in the hierarchy, but don’t tell him.” No, none of the portraits seemed to hide a hidden passage. He sighed and went for the last fleet of stairs, tugging Red along with him “But I haven’t seen the devil since morning so yeah, it’s weird.”

 Not weirder than literally being missing the beast’s presence, though. Seriously. One would think he spent an entire year with Red in Alola instead of some mere twenty eight days. Not even a full month. He guessed there was the entirety of their childhood, but Pikachu wasn’t around then.

 Red didn’t answer him till they were on the fourth floor, his eyes looking from side to side and frowning at the large number of graves filling the place. Blue told him they were the reason the Tower had closed: there literally wasn’t enough space anymore. The last floor hadn’t been this full when he was twelve, and to be honest, that was a good thing. Poor little Blue would have died on the spot if he saw the amount of ghosts floating around the place, just below the tall ceiling. It made his stomach twist. He grabbed Red’s arm just a little bit tighter.

_[Pokemon always know how you feel. I didn’t want him to.]_

 Blue actually gasped at that, turning to face him and thankfully having the mind to whisper instead of yell.

“You’re afraid the thing’ll pity you? Fuck, even Moltres wasn’t this dumb when she-“

 Red raised a brow at him and kept speaking, momentarily forgetting all his fidgetiness from before. Damn him.

_[Pikachu frets enough. I didn’t want to worry him with this.]_

 And then he looked down at his trainers again, shifting from foot to foot, looking like saying this had cost as much as deciding to do it. It was awing, actually. Blue understood – there were many days where he left Eevee at home because he knew the day would be stressing and each kid challenging his gym more ignorant and arrogant than the other, he just knew. There was a pattern to when those days came. He just never expected Red, poster boy for Kanto League, whose Pikachu looked like a part of his body to basically everyone, to have this sort of actions too.

 He looked like the type who would share the moment, not barge headfirst and alone into it.

 Maybe he was trying to face his fears by himself, maybe he was trusting Blue to help him with that and spare Pikachu yet another-

 Before he could even finish that trail of thought, something barged open at the end of the room. Dust flew around, Haunters spread away as Gastlys hid behind graves, the Cubones following them ran back down the stairs.

 Blue only had time to turn around and grab Red’s arm again (when had he dropped it?) when voice reached his ears.

“-and they just had put us on Lavender patrol this week, seriously. Look at all these Haunters and stupid Cubones. This place gives me the creeps-“

“Who the hell are you? This place’s off limits! Stupid reckless teenagers, I swear to Arceus-”

 First thing Blue noticed? They didn’t exactly have uniforms, but their clothes matched like every good organization who claimed to want some change nowadays. Grey pants with an equally grey sweatshirt, a big neon blue zero stamped on the front. They both wore some sort of dark glasses – ones whose name Blue could not remember, but knew were a new version of Silph Scope. He wondered what they might need it for, since most ghost pokemon clearly did not give a damn and just showed themselves to everyone. Maybe it had to do with some other mission of theirs? Well, at least their hairstyles were different, even if both dark – one had a mess of curly short hair while the other had a long mass of straight one.

 Second thing he noticed? They thought they were some random trespassing teenagers in search of adventure. They, Blue Oak and Red, both in their mid-twenties. It was degrading.

 Third? The door these two had crossed by was still open, yellow light filling the otherwise dark room.

“Well?” Curled hair chick said, crossing her arms “Sod off! This place ain’t for children!”

“Who are you calling a child?” Blue snapped, Red grabbing his arm in a tight hold.

“Now that I look better at you, you don’t look like wandering teenagers.” The straight haired guy said, tilting his head, as if he had just reached the highest degree in observation skills.

“Who cares what they look like? Kids or not, they shouldn’t be here. This place’s off limits.”

 This honestly looked straight out of a movie. Blue took a quick glance at Red, who stared back at him just as confused.

“Well why are you two here then?” Blue asked casually.

“Well it’s not of your damn business.”

 Blue expected them to keep pushing them away, but to his surprise, they both reached for their belts. He couldn’t see their faces well, but by the guy’s slightly hunched position and the way the girl held her ground, it was pretty obvious they were getting suspicious. Well dang, maybe they weren’t as dumb as he thought.

“You’re no normal trespassers, are you?” Curly haired girl said.

“How did you find us? Did those two out us?” the guy said.

_Those two_ , who had been captured. They knew. These were the guys they were after.

“They didn’t need to,” Blue said, reaching for the inside of his jacket and taking a step to the side. Red let go of his arm, fingers twitching by his side as he pondered whose pokeball was best to throw. Blue hoped he went with Charizard. He really was digging some flames to both warm and light up the place right now “Your team is really just fucking ridiculous.”

 The girl brought a hand to her chest as the guy gasped.

“Ridiculous? Have you looked at the League? Lazy trainers who do nothing but wave their arms around and speak to the press,” the girl raised a pokeball, the surface shining like a beacon in the darkness “Someone has to put an end to it, and it’ll be us. What’re you two gonna do anyway?”

 Something cliqued on his mind, his hand automatically flinging to Bulba’s pokeball.

“Put an end to it?! By what, poisoning gym leaders’ pokemon?! How great of you guys, truly, the peak of progress there!”

“They’re a gate to the League! Once them and their fake challenges are down, the Elite Four will crumble. Honestly, have you never taken on one? They can’t even use their full strength in case some kid goes home crying.”

 That was true, but it wasn’t his fault. He had regulations to follow. And honestly, most kids would give up their journey on the first gym if not given a proper chance. It used to drive Blue mad at how easy the challenges were, at how smoothly it went and how fast Red could keep up with him. But then he gained the position at Viridian and watched as some kids struggled with the battling basics and came back to his gym crying, saying their starter ‘wasn’t helping’.

 It didn’t mean these guys were right though.

 Four pokeballs were thrown at the same time, like a series of clocks set to chime all at once. Venusaur hit the ground with a growl, Charizard by its side. In front of them, a tiny Butterfree with greedy eyes and a large Persian growled back. Ah. Despite his early words, he was expecting the dark and poison aesthetic.

 Something clicked on the guy’s face and he went positively pale, as bug eyed as his Butterfee.

“Wait a second- oh no. Marina, this is bad. Really bad. The others said we wouldn’t have to deal with this. We’re just rookies.”

“What the fuck are you on about?” the girl, Marina, shout. Without wasting time, she kicked at the ground, her Persian launching forward in a weak attempt to bite Venusaur. Bulba swiped it off, wrapping its vines around its body and lifting it off the ground like it was nothing. Charizard huffed at Persian, sending the oversized cat into a flinching mess before breathing flames at it, some getting in Bulba’s vines. Bulba flinched but kept its hold.

 The guy muttered a sleeping powder before stepping back, eyes going from Blue to Red. But there was something misplaced about the way his limbs trembled, about the way fear danced across his body, the way his eyes shifted from him to Venusaur and to him again, only to then land on Charizard and Red.

The Butterfree launched at Venusaur, only to be swiped away by a vine.

 Well he should be scared. Any organization that messed with his team and then went around hiding in the shadows was nothing but a cowardly group of spoiled kids.

 “Wait, Kamon, do you mean- oh shit.”

 And as realization dawned on her face, Blue couldn’t do anything else but laugh.

“You see this, _Red_? Told you there was nothing to worry about. Let’s finish ‘em.”

 Red didn’t even try to kick him for acting like a madman. He switched his sleeping Charizard for Blastoise – and oh, couldn’t he just go with Pikachu already – and Hydro Pumped Persian so hard the pokemon flew past its trainer and disappeared in a flash of light as it was called out, replaced by a less sturdy Weezing. There was the poison aesthetic Blue was talking about. Red pursed his lips, eyeing the pokemon with disdain.

 For a while, he was just blinded by the battle. Weezing floated above them, but Butterfree was quickly replaced by a Jigglypuff, and then na Ekans, and finally some damned Espeon that belong everywhere but on this battlefield. Bulba was replaced with Eevee, his princess taking one glance at Espeon and twisting its nose. Blastoise stood tall, unscathed by the battle.

 Blue felt his adrenaline slowly fade with each move, body going numb. There was a warmness spreading through is side as Red covered him from most of the harm, leaving room for Eevee to bite down on Espeon without much problem. It was leaving him perhaps too comfortable, the routine of the fight, how safe it fell to attack when he knew nothing could touch him.

 Maybe he let his guard down for too long.

“Well, I heard of a trick that should work well here.” The first voice to fill the room after a blinding silence – if you took out the orders and the pokemon colliding – was shrill, the curly haired girl smiling mischievously “C’mon, Weezing, give ‘em everything you’ve been holding!”

 If he thought it was hard to see, what came next made it unbearable.

 Purple gas filled the room in a sudden wave, its colour tainting everything on its path and forcing him to shove his shirt up his face to prevent going in a coughing fit. He couldn’t see anything besides a quick flash followed by Eevee’s cry, Espeon’s red eyes glowering faintly in the distance.

“Fucking hell- how can a small bitch make so much smoke-“

 He looked at his left side, the outline of Red’s body visible through the gas. Blue stepped closer to him, about to make a strategy on how to improve their odds of winning, when something made him stop and frown. Red’s eyes were wide as he stared ahead, hands frozen in front of him and body tense. Blue frowned and followed his gaze, landing on exactly nothing besides the purple mass of intoxication.

“Red? Now’s not the time to go into a mental break down, you know?”

 He really should punch himself straight in the face every morning to make up for the amount of shit that came out of his mouth. Red at least seemed to wake up, staring at him in panic.

“Wha- Eevee, don’t stay on the same spot!” he shout as Eevee cried out again. Where was Blastoise in this mess.

 Red shook his head and stared at his hands, and then back at the battle.

“What-“

 A faint laughter chirped through the air again.

_“Much better.”_

 Red signed something, but Blue couldn’t make it in the gas.

“What about it?” he asked, fretting. Red frowned at him, eyes leaving the battle.

_[Poison Gas.]_

“What about it? It’s jus – Oh.”

 Oh.

 Flashes went through his mind, of Red telling him over and over again how he hated the move, of Red looking shaken on Silph Company, of Red preferring to battle out in the open. And now it made sense.

 Red couldn’t speak during a battle. He relied on signing, on faint moves with his hands, on having a good enough perspective between him and his pokemon. All of that was useless when you took out the vision from the equation.

 It was as if someone suddenly rendered Blue speechless.

 “Cheating bastards.” He spat, jaw clenching.

 Red squinted ahead, to no use. If they could faintly make out the shape of Blastoise’s shell it was already a win.

“Look, don’t you have any pokemon who can like, follow orders by sounds or something? Pikachu? Lapras?”

 Red shook his head and stepped closer.

_[Sounds are useless in battle. The pokemon lose track of them if they’re too low, and if they’re too high the other trainers catch on.]_

“Well there must be a way to- wait, what about Salandit?”

 Red tilted his head at him. Blue nodded, pointing at the duskball on Red’s belt.

“I saw you training him and Cubone in Alola. You clapped and he would launch a different attack each time. Think he still knows those?” his words were quick and low, followed by him frantically moving his arms as Red stared at him in what could possibly be confusion.

 Red’s eyes slowly widened as he nodded, realization drawing on his face as he reached for the duskball, Blastoise’s one in hand as he called back the pokemon. Soon, light flashed in the mist of the purple smoke, and a low chirp was heard.

“What did he sent?” he vaguely heard one of the guys asking. He couldn’t care less, he needed a way to vanish the smoke.

 The first clap sounded. At first nothing happened, but then the distinct sound of a pokemon shrieking echoed in the room –Espeon, to be more specific. Blue felt himself grin as Red straightened up by his side, a small smile tugging at his lips. They had this. If they couldn’t win against some measly guys who called themselves some sort of twisted world savers, then they were nothing.

 He looked away, grinning as he brushed his arm against Red’s. Red nodded, taking a deep breath.

 Now, the gas.

“Eevee, back!” He called just as he switched it for Pidgeot, the bird flying up and making the smoke swirl as it went “Clear this shit out!”

 With five strong wing flaps, part of the gas cleared, making the battlefield visible again. Salandit was on top of Espeon, pinning it down. Weezing was nowhere in sight.

“Where the-“

“Weezing, again!”

 A loud groan was heard somewhere to his left, and soon smoke was rolling again, this time thicker.

“Yain’t getting rid of this so easily!”

“Fuck!”

 Red clapped again. Fire busted through the gas – and oh, Blue was really glad this one wasn’t flammable -, Espeon crying out in pain. Its trainer barked an order, but before the attack could land, Salandit was jumping out of the way and landing in front of them, tail swinging and swirling the air around.

“We gotta take down that Weezing.”

 Red nodded in agreement, looking up at Pidgeot. Blue scoffed half-heartedly.

“So I gotta clean while you do the fun work? That’s so kind of you Red, really, boyfriend goals here.”

 Red flipped him off.

 Pidgeot flapped its wings again, clearing the area. Espeon was down, much to its trainer’s dismay, but he didn’t replace it, looking at Marina instead with a look of pure petrification. She waved him off and bit her nails.

“Warn the others while I keep them busy.”

 It was barely above a whisper, but it echoed in the closed, heavy room. Neither Blue nor Red lost any time. Pidgeot flew high in the room, nearly touching the tall ceilings, and sent a whirl of wind so strong it knocked paintings out of the walls, sending them into a pile on the floor. The guy tripped on them on his haste to flee the room, gaining them more time as Weezing got ready to another round of gas.

“We gotta keep that guy busy, but Pigeot here can’t break any more shit. And he can’t pay attention to him while keeping Weezing in check.”

 The damned poison type was nowhere to be seen. It reminded Blue of just how good these guys were at sneaking around. Sure, their battling skills were abysmal, but despite their small numbers, they had caused quite a ruckus. He didn’t want to think what would happen if they had allied themselves with people on Team Rocket’s league. Actually, he prayed no organization actually ever managed to mix just the right amount of pokemon and human skills.

 His train of thought was interrupted by Red tapping his arm.

_[Can we paralyze him?]_

“Er, as much as I want to, I think Lance’s gonna slit our throats if we do that.”

 Red lowered his head with a pensive look, Salandit’s eyes trailing the room for him. Blue guessed the creature could see through the fading gas better than he did. Pidgeot was also scouting the area now. In front of them, the girl was yelling at the guy to get up, her eyes momentarily leaving the battlefield. Seriously, how did these guys get so far. Maybe they were the only dumb duo around – or maybe not, he and Red were assigned to them after all.

“But… I’m sure we can bother him. And the girl while we’re at it, maybe distracting her will bring poison mcfuck out.”

 Red looked at him and, after short seconds, nodded.

 As Blue let out Eevee, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly relieved for seeing Pikachu again. The pokemon appeared in all its yellow glory, not even sparing Blue a glance as Red signed some incomprehensible thing at it. In a flash, the mouse running through the room and jumping on the guy’s head, sending him into a stumbling mess, shrieks following suit.

“What the-“ the girl was cut off with a scream as Eevee bit her ankle.

 The room instantaneously covered in gas with it, and Pidgeot spent ten seconds trying to clear it out at an awkward angle.

 There.

 With another clap, the Weezing disappeared in a flash of light.

 He looked at Red and their eyes met, an unspoken message passing between them. Now they just needed to wrap it up and go home.

 Blue felt pretty damn happy when he had the pleasure of tying these bastards down as Red moved to the other room.

-

 As promised, there were two officers waiting for them outside, who almost wordlessly took the two grunts along with the evidence.

 The air in Lavender had dropped down at least two degrees while they were inside, the chilliness breaking through his clothes and freezing his bones. Even Red seemed a tiny bit affected, hugging his arms close to his chest. He was staring at Blue now, eyes droopy and a slouch on his pose.

“C’mon, two lame ass guys tire you out like that? You’re makin’ me reconsider having you as a rival.” He said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and urging him forward. He wanted to be as far away from Lavender as his legs would get him before setting off on Pidgeot.

 Red huffed, pushing him away with a roll of his eyes. Blue chuckled and moved closer to him again, their hands brushing with each step. It took all of Blue’s will not to grab it. Actually, it made him think if he even should – Red needed those to speak, didn’t he?

 As if reading his mind, Red took that moment to start signing, the words quick as he let his arms fall back to his sides again.

_[Viridian, right?]_

 That made Blue stop on his tracks, a frown taking over his face.

 “Actually… There’s somewhere I gotta go before that. Someone, actually.”

 Red looked up at the moon, then at his wristwatch, and finally set his eyes on Blue again with a tilt of his head. Blue felt his cheeks growing hot at how embarrassing the idea was, but he tried to hide it, raising a brow instead and crossing his arms.

“If he hasn’t changed one bit since I left to Viridian all those years ago, I’m pretty sure he’s awake at- however the fuck o’clock it is,” _half past midnight_ , Red supplied “Yes, that. I just- need to understand something. You comin’?”

 He couldn’t see that well in the darkness, Lavender’s streetlamps not being particularly good at doing the one thing they were built for – illuminating -, but he could swear Red went a little pale as he shook his head.

_[Not tonight.]_

“Drop you off at home, then?”

 Red nodded. They started to walk again, leaving the streets behind them as they stepped into a shady forest where time seemed to stop and the ground was still as rocky as it had been when he was twelve.

“Cool- shit. I don’t have food. Uh, we could stop at _Colbats_. It’s a convenience store by my gym, ya know, one of those knew ones filled with vending machines. Pretty cool when you don’t wanna see anyone and just wanna grab some dry cake or whatever.”

 Something told him Red had absolutely no idea what vending machine convenience stores were, but whatever. It’s what they had for now.

-

 Pidgeot had given the nasty eye when it saw Blue and Red standing in front of it, the night skies looming over them. However, at the word Viridian, its mood seemed to cheer up a little – it was a small trip, after all. It’s not like the two of them were trying to sail over the seas or something. Again.

 Now Pidgeot was just quiet as Blue flew alone on top of it, leaving the quiet streets of Viridian behind, a mint bubble gum on his mouth. Its body was tense, tenser than it had been when both he and Red were on top of it moments ago, its feathers feeling rougher under his fingers. Sometimes, Blue hated how keen his little bird – the first pokemon he caught – was.

 Pidgeot dropped him off in the middle of Pallet Town, the only sound announcing their presence being the flutter of wings and the soft pound as they landed. The streets were, surprisingly, illuminated by streetlamps. Those hadn’t been there last time Blue was around at night.

 His house – the house he had grown in – was completely dark, the paint fading off and the garden dry, a _for sale_ sign planted on the front. It made his heart clench somehow, no matter how selfish that was. He had moved, Daisy had moved, gramps never really lived there to begin with. It was only logical. Yet, seeing the place so abandoned made him feel like perhaps not having brought Red with him was a mistake.

 He shook his head, marching forward, and forcefully avoiding his look from the other house standing just beside his. He didn’t even want to know what would go through his head if he saw it.

 With large steps, he made it to the front of the lab, pushing the doors open. The main lobby was empty and dark, the sound of machinery bubbling in the background as he made his way through it. There were a few pieces of paper scattered here and there, followed by open books and abandoned mugs. A Mr. Mime popped out from behind a desk, eyeing him curiously. Blue left it behind and went straight to the closed office on the left, where he knew his grandfather would close himself in at the late hours of night, when no work really waited for him yet he felt like he should drown himself in it anyway.

 He had the decency to knock on the door before opening it.

 His grandfather was seated behind a large glass desk, two laptops sitting on top of it along with an old computer, three emptied mugs of coffee and a stack of different coloured books. The papers he was looking through were actually pulled into a neat pile instead of going wild like they did in the rest of the lab. Blue noticed that the shelves were emptier than he last remembered, which was weird. He probably had moved them deeper into the lab or something. Maybe he had gotten rid of them, some were pretty old and out dated.

 Oak’s eyes shot up when he heard the door creek, confusion flashing on his eyes before they widened.

“Blue?”

 He was older than Blue remembered. Maybe spending so much time with Samson, who was as old as his grandfather but still looked like he was in his fifties, had given him a different perspective. Gramps’ hair was as white as sheet, his body frail and his back more curved, his face wrinkled. It was disturbing, in a way, how old he now looked.

 “Gramps.” He said, not bothering to close the door. If he knew himself well, he knew it would be unnecessary. He tended to just bolt out in anger, so might as well have a clear path to run off through.

“What are you doing here? Have you and Red finished your job?” his voice was a little breathless.

 There it was. Blue felt his face twist, but he held it in with a deep breath, his back straight as he forced each word as nonchalantly as possible.

“Oh yes, we have. Have you finished yours, though? Lance told me you were quite helpful.”

 Gramps’s eyes scrunched in confusion as he clutched the papers on his hands a little bit too tightly, only to smoother them again with a sigh.

“Yes. Although I do not understand your question, nor where you’re trying to get at.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe to the part where you didn’t tell me you were helping? What, was it some kind of deep secret?”

“Is that it? You’re upset because I didn’t tell you? I didn’t find the time, and I thought Daisy had already filled you in.”

“Well _she didn’t_.” he snapped, cursing himself. So much for trying to remain calm.

 His grandfather got up, which made him straighten up even more.

“Blue-“

“Don’t _Blue_ me right now. You also didn’t tell me Red was coming with me to Alola. What? Now not only you don’t give two shits, but you also can’t be bothered to tell me anything? Have to rely on Daisy for it? She’s my sister, not your secretary.”

 His grandfather looked like he was about to tell him just why he got Daisy to do his talking and where Blue could shove his complains, but surprisingly, he stopped and took a deep breath. Like Blue was the difficult child here.

“I didn’t tell you that because I knew you would refuse to go otherwise.”

 Blue gave a dry chuckle at that.

“Oh, so you lied to me instead. Great.”

“I didn’t lie to you. I omitted it for your sake and his.”

“Well did you hide this for our sake as well?!” he shout “Did you?! What’s next, you’re moving off to Unova on some damn work travel and dropping me and Daisy off for good?!”

“Blue!”

 For someone so old, his voice did carry well through the lab. Blue swallowed dryly, his fists clenched by his sides. His grandfather had a hand pressed to his forehead, taking two deep breaths before speaking again.

“Would you have listened if I had talked to you?”

 His first instinct was the shout _yes_ , but even he wasn’t that dumb. He would hear, sure, but he would probably find a way to argue with his grandfather through it. Like he was doing now.

“At least I would have known. I deserved that much after you accused me of poisoning my own pokemon.”

“I apologized for that already. Besides, you didn’t tell me you almost broke your head, either, did you? As your grandfather, I think I had a right to know that.”

“Well I just figured you wouldn’t fucking care, like always.” He said, hand reaching for his stitches but stopping halfway through it. He clenched his fists, feeling like his mouth had been filled with cotton.

 He had never actually confronted his grandfather about- well, about everything. About his feelings, about his rage, about the envy he always felt. He hinted towards it, but he never outright let the words leave his mouth. It made his body freeze in panic, every sense telling him to just forget it and go home.

 He crossed his arms, taking a step back.

“That’s not true.” His grandfather said, voice above a whisper.

“Oh, really? Are we going to ignore the obvious now?”

 Maybe he should have gotten Eevee out of the pokeball for this. He swallowed the lump on his throat, letting his fingers travel to rest on top of the pokeball just for that small sense of security.

 “Blue, I don’t know what you think, but _never_ , not once in my life, have I not cared for you. You’re my grandson, and I’ve always wanted what’s best for you.” His grandfather took a step forward.

 Blue gave a dark chuckle, looking between his grandfather and the glass desk. Truly. The man had the nerve to tell him that now, after Blue had finally given up on even looking for some sort of twisted approval from him.

“Yeah, right. And you showed that by letting some kid pick his starter first, you showed that by barely calling me after I started my journey, you showed that by abandoning me at the League after I lost, and you definitely showed that after I moved to Viridian and everything I did became a burden to the family, didn’t you?”

 He could feel his voice getting higher and tighter, but he didn’t care.

“I-“

“Just admit it, it was never me who you wanted as a grandson! Well I have good news for you-“

 Something locked up his body, punching the breath out of his lungs. His body was petrified, the icy and coppery taste of psychic overwhelming his senses. His grandfather shout something he couldn’t comprehend and suddenly he was tumbling back on the floor, nearly collapsing as he went into a coughing fit. By the corner of his eye he saw that damned Mr. Mime from the beginning as the creature went back to its spot, leaving him and his grandfather alone again. He felt anger burning through his body like a wild fire, head snapping up as his throat still seized.

 “Don’t you dare to say that. Ever again. You hear me?” Gramps voice was low and shaky, as his wide eyes looking from where Mr. Mime had appeared to him.

“Fine!” Blue spat, sending a murderous look in his direction “Get your fucking beast do the job for you! I know what I know. Now if you kindly excuse me, your definitely-not-favourite-grandson is waiting for me.”

“Blue!” his grandfather’s voice was loud as he turned around and stepped out of the lab “Blue, come here, we’re not done. Not after this-“

“Goodbye, gramps!”

 He slammed the door shut, making a straight line for the main lobby, eyes stuck ahead. Not much later, the same door opened again, his grandfather shouting after him.

“Blue, wait! We need to talk!”

“I have nothing to talk to you!” He pushed the main door open, the cold air hitting him like a truck. His leg tingled, but it hadn’t been the first time a pokemon hit him. Alakazm had accidentally done it a lot when it was still a Kadabra learning how to control its powers. It’s not like he cared anyway. He got his pokeball out, Pidgeot appearing and giving him a tight look as it cooed.

“Blue-“ he didn’t know how, but is grandfather had caught up to him, moving him around by the shoulders. Pidgeot shrieked behind him, wings open.

“Let go!”

“No, you listen to me!” his voice echoed through Pallet, not making it any better. Blue just wanted to go, his face burning along with his racing heart. His grandfather wasn’t in much better shape, eyes watery and hands trembling on his soulders.

“NO!”

“I’m sorry! I never intended to make you think that way! You were hard to raise, you never accepted things the way Daisy did when you were younger, and that wasn’t a bad thing, it wasn’t. I just thought I was doing it the right way, that maybe if I was sterner things would be better, but they weren’t, and I know that. But it was never my intention to hurt you-“

“Well but you did!” Blue shout, stepping back only for his back to collide against Pidgeot, who growled “You fucking did! And I don’t care about your excuses! You had all this years to change that, but you never did. What?! You though I would simply become a good child from day to night and be glad and happy?! Sorry to disappoint gramps, but that’s not how it works.”

“You didn’t make it easy to try.”  
“And you didn’t try at all, did you?”

 The silence stretched. Somewhere to his left, a light was turned on inside a house. Blue ignored it and turned around, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve and getting on top of Pidgeot with some degree of difficulty.

“Goodbye, gramps.”

 Gramps said nothing. Blue patted Pidgeot twice and, together, they set flight.

 He felt proud of himself for not shredding even one tear during the time it took him to arrive at Viridian. Actually, he just fell numb, like all of this had been some sort of bad dream.

-

 The lights on the street were dull above his head when he reached his building, pushing open the door. The main one was never locked. He stepped up the stairs in silence, grabbed his spare keys, and stepped inside his apartment. Snorlax was sprawled on the living room, Mimikyu sleeping on top of it and cuddling the two eggs. Blue moved silently not to waken them, dropping his keys and jacket on the couch and moving into his bedroom.

 Red was not there. Blue frowned, kicking off his clothes in favour of a warm green sweater and grey pants. With a sigh, he went to check the bathroom. Maybe Red had gone to the convenience store again? Blue was sure he wouldn’t disappear without his Snorlax. He stepped into the living room again, eyes scanning the empty kitchen.

His eyes stopped on the half open window, curtains fluttering with the wind, the metal fire escape glinting below the moonlight just beside the balcony. Blue stared at it in trance for a few minutes, before sighing and quietly walking towards it. The balcony offered a beautiful view to the glittering lights of the city, the scene expanding more and more as he stepped up the fire escape, the rusty metal cold under his hands and socks.

Red was sat on the roof, Pikachu sleeping on his lap as he gazed up at the sky, elbows resting on his knees as his head rested on his hands. He was still in his jeans and shirt, but the scarf was nowhere in sight as his body seemed untouched by the cold night air, his skin reflecting the pale light of the moon, his silly cap still in place.

 He jumped when Blue stepped up on a particularly cranky step, his surprise quickly being replaced by nonchalance as his eyes travelled up again.

“You know, all this emotional bullshit below the moon is getting kinda old now. Couldn’t you have come up here – I dunno -, at three in the afternoon?”

 He sat by his side, leaving some three good inches of distance between them. Red shook his head, pointing with his chin towards the sky.

 He had to admit, it was beautiful. The street lights barely tainted the dark canvas with millions of twinkly white dots above them, a half-moon standing to the left. There was no Solgaleo or Lunala there to greet them; instead, Blue couldn’t help but smile at the old constellations that watched over him ever since he was child. Sure, he may be no expert like Daisy, but he still knew where to spot the legendary birds on the sky.

 It was Red who shifted closer to him, pressing their legs together, eyes still up.

“Daisy says Moltres goes away by the end of Summer to give place to Articuno, so that winter stays cold and summer hot. I call it bullshit – those don’t even control the weather.”

 He said, eyeing the constellation of Moltres which already set very low in the sky. It probably resembled a Moltres if you compared it to a drawing made by a three year old.

_[What about Zapdos?]_

“Zapdos is seen all year round, obviously. There are storms every season.”  
 They fell in silence afterwards, Pikachu sound asleep on Red’s lap as the wind blew softly, messing their hair with each swirl. Viridian was just as quiet below them, the occasional car driving by and filling the empty streets with the sound of engines. Once in a while, the door to some bar or another would open up, people shouting as they walked down the streets, their cheers ringing for long minutes before they too were consumed by silence.

 After what could have been hours, Red spoke.

_[I have to talk to her.]_

 Blue nodded, eyes falling back to the city.

“You do. She’s a good mother.”

 They fell back in silence, this time its weight overwhelming the peacefulness they had before. Thankfully, Red didn’t let it stretch for too long.

_[How was it?]_

 Blue gulped, looking up at the moon.

“Awful. Gramps has a Mr.Mime now. The thing got mad at me.”  
 At that Red turned his body towards him, eyes wide as he grabbed his arm. Blue smiled and waved him off.

“I’m fine, dummy. Takes more than that to bring Blue Oak down. Besides, it was a nice reason to leave…” he looked down, grabbing Red’s hand and pushing it away from his arm, letting it rest on top of his tight instead “Not that it helped much.”

 Red tapped his leg, now scowling. Blue chuckled.

“Just- you know me and him haven’t been on good terms. It’s just- I sort of finally had the satisfaction of throwing everything he did to me on his face, only to have him give me a very sorry talk about how he never wanted to hurt me and _blah blah blah_. I- do you believe this shit?”  He turned to face Red, who was staring at him patiently “And the worse is that the more I think about it, the less angry I get!”

 Red looked down for a few seconds, before meeting his eyes again.

_[He does care for you… although I don’t understand where Mr. Mime appeared from.]_

 Blue clicked his tongue.

“Like you said, pokemon feel their owner’s feelings. I was mad, gramps was mad, and boom. I gotta praise him though, it had the element of surprise to it.”

 They stood quiet again, the wind peeking up. He should have brought a blanket up here.

_[Thinks don’t have to stay like this.]_

“I know, I know, just...” He took a deep breath, even if the words hurt his throat when he let them out “Will you be there? I- I’m tired of facing this shit all by myself.”

 At that, Red looked at him, and what kind of person would Blue be if he just kept his eyes glued on the moon? Red’s face was blank, safe from the bags below his eyes. Blue feared their expressions were matching.

_[Only if you do, too.]_

 Blue nodded, another question stabbing its way through his brain. He looked away, swallowing the pain on his throat and fiddling with the stray ends of his sweatpants.

“Are we… telling them? About… you know… us.”

_[You don’t want to?]_

“What? No, that’s not what I- I do want, I just… Dunno if you do, too.”

_[Why wouldn’t I?]_

 He kept avoiding Red’s eyes, focusing instead on his very interesting pants because wow, look at that material, it was absolutely brilliant, he should fill his closet with it.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you’re- you know _, you_ and I’m me. Imagine the papers: old rivals turned lovers? Rivalry leads to passion? The former champions of Kanto are flaming gay for each other? Battle Legend Red picks scandalous gym leader for a date, more at seven?”

 When Red didn’t say anything, Blue found he couldn’t stop speaking. Actually, he seemed to be unable to hold back whenever Red was around.

“Also because you’re gramps’ fav and he’ll probably think I’m corrupting you or something? And ‘cause Gold won’t shut up once he finds out? And Daisy- oh shit, Daisy. And Lance. I just- we’re not some random dudes who started dating. People will pry and I don’t- I wanna be sure that’s what you want.”

 Red just kept staring. Or so Blue thought. He was still cowardly looking at the tiny holes on his pants. How had those gotten there?

“What if you realize it’s too much trouble and give up on me?”

 This time, Red finally stopped pretending he was a statue and punched him the shoulder, almost making him fall twenty feet even though the touch was so light it barely tickled. Blue yelped and shot an incredulous look at Red while dramatically rubbing his shoulder, jaw hanging open.

“You asshole!”

 Red just raised one eyebrow at him, lips curled up in a smile, as if the situation was the funniest thing he’d ever seen.

_[So you think I want to keep this secret because I may realize I don’t want to be with you, because it’s too much trouble?]_

 And because Red clearly deserved someone better, but he feared he would be thrown off the roof if he said it loud so he just nodded. To his surprise, Red just kept staring at him like that, going as far as shaking his head.

_[And since when do I give a damn about what other people think, Blue?]_

“Oh, I dunno, since you ran away to the top of a frozen mountain years ago because dealing with everyone as the official Kanto Champion was too tiring?” his voice was ridiculously high.

_[Blue.]_

_“Red.”_

 They just stared at each other, Blue feeling like his heart would jump out of his mouth and throw itself off the building while Red’s smile slowly faded into a small tug at his lips. His arms were crossed, his face finally soft and relaxed after the rather tense day they had been through. He was beautiful, and Blue was so, so lucky.

 Finally, just as another car rolled down the street, Red signed again.

_[Do you know when I realized I liked you?]_

 Blue was taken aback by the question, but managed to shake his head.

_[When you appeared at Mount Silver. I thought I was hallucinating. I never expected you to climb a mountain for me, and when you came up there I just…]_

 He didn’t need to finish it. Just that alone made his blood run warmer, even if his brows furrowed and his fingers gripped his legs tighter. His brain was also screaming at him that Red’s realization was far more romantic than having a sudden bang of enlightenment after a daydream at tree in the morning. But still-

“That was so long ago-“

_[I said like.]_

 Blue just blinked at him and finally – finally – Red looked down, cheeks appearing just a fraction darker.

_[I fell for you when you told me what this apartment looked like before you moved in.]_

 And it was all so stupid Blue found himself laughing because _one_ , Red had just confessed he had fallen for him and this wasn’t just a crush, and _two_ , because he fell for him as they discussed how pink his house’s walls were. He could recall the conversation in detail, and how they ended up sprawled on the floor, laughing like madmen, could describe with precision the soft look Red had given him afterwards.

 They were such losers. But they were cool losers.

 When he finally calmed down, Red was staring at him with a pout and crossed arms, his cheeks matching his name. Blue chuckled, poking him on the forehead.

“You realized you loved me after making fun of my misery. Well thanks, Red, I-“

 Well, maybe he wasn’t ready to casually blurt out “I love you too” yet. Which was a shame.

 Red just huffed, fixing his cap and taking one quick glance at the stars again, Pikachu stirring awake with a crack of electricity only to fall back asleep with a yawn.

 An idea popped on Blue’s mind, and he found himself grabbing Red’s hand between his, feeling the cold skin beneath his fingers with a shiver. He swallowed dryly as he worked each finger in place, feeling really silly at the idea but not stopping. Soon, and much to Red’s confusion, he managed to press both Red’s middle and ring finger down as the other three stood straight. He sat back, cheeks burning as he held his head high.

 It took Red three seconds to realize what he had signed on his hand.

_I love you._

 For once, Blue didn’t regret telling what was on his heart. Red went flustered from his ears all the way down to his neck as he pressed his forehead against his, his hands cupping his cheeks as he smiled like an idiot and kissed him like he was the most precious thing in the world. It felt good, a mix of unbearable warmness and comforting softness that he would never be able to explain.

 And maybe it wasn’t the most romantic thing in the world. Maybe it was lame. Maybe people would coo at him for it. Maybe Red would one day wake up and poke fun at him for how much of a non-smooth idiot he had been. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to get this close to a confession in a long while, and maybe he and Red would still be working on their issues by the time they managed to act like the idiots they both were with no shame whatsoever.

 However, it didn’t make any of this any less perfect.

 Blue never really expected to end up in Alola with his long lost rival for a full month, after all. He also didn't expect to basically being forced to adopt a new and creepy little pokemon, which appeared to have taken a like to him. And most importantly, he was not expecting to fall back into a spiral of feelings that should have been buried a long, long time ago.

 That didn’t mean he regretted any of it. Actually, he was glad it had happened, and if anyone asked, he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND this is it. I can't believe I managed to finish this, holy shit. There's still an epilogue coming up, but it'll be short.   
>  I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I know I didn't focus this story too much on the romantic part of their relationship, but to be honest, it just... didn't felt right when I was writing it. There were moments where I wanted to reinforce it a little bit more but it just didn't felt natural for them, so sorry if it bothered anyone? I just really didn't want to make the story stiff. Also, some of you may know this already, but my favourite part about writing this fic was getting to write it on Blue's pov. I just really like it, and tbh, if there's a character you really love and identify with, go ahead and write something about them. It's more therapeutic than you may think.  
>  And this is it! Thank you all for following this story! Also, if it isn't much trouble, i'd really like it if you could leave a comment on this chapter, with it being the last and everything ^^  
>  See you sometime in a near future! <3


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